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PETER and NANCY 
in^ MEXICO 

CENTRAL AMERICA,WEST INDIES, WCANADA 

_ 1 

BY 

MILDRED HOUGHTON COMFORT 

(\ 

Author of Peter and Nancy in the United States and Alaska 
Peter and Nancy in South America 
Peter and Nancy in Australia 
Peter and Nancy in Europe 
Peter and Nancy in Africa 
Peter and Nancy in Asia 



BECKLEY-CARDY COMPANY 

CHICAGO 



















V \x\S 

^IL 


TO CEONE 


JAN -p 1939 

Copyright, 1938, by 
BECKLEY-CARDY COMPANY 
All rights reserved 


Printed in the United States of Amerida 


©Cl A 


124808 


1 




CONTENTS 


PAGE 


Visiting the Neighbors. 9 

From Minnesota to the Mexican Border 

Climbing Southward. 19 

Monterrey, Saltillo, and Ciudad Victoria 

Life in the Highlands. 31 

From San Luis Potosi to Queretaro 

The Oldest Capital in America. 39 

Mexico City 

The Floating Gardens. 50 

Xochimilco and the Forest of Chapultepec 

The Indian Festival. 62 

Mexico City and Pahuatlan 

Climbing an Easy Mountain. 78 

Popocatepetl 

A Pilgrimage. 88 

Guadalupe 

The Mysterious Past. 94 

San Juan Teotihuacan and Toluca 

The Land of Corn. 102 

Tlaxcala, Puebla, and Cholula 

Calling on Capital Neighbors. 110 

Cuernavaca, Taxco, and Uruapan 

The City that Silver Made. 118 

Guanajuato 

A City of Churches. 124 

Oaxaca 

Among the Zapotecs. 131 

In the Vicinity of Oaxaca 

3 

w 
















4 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 

Mexico’s Second Largest City. 142 

Guadalajara 

In the Tropics. 152 

The States of Veracruz and Oaxaca 

Land of Volcanoes and Coffee. 161 

Guatemala 

A Relief Map. 170 

Guatemala City and Quirigua 

Gleaming Cities and Old Wells. 181 

Yucatan 

To THE City of Silver Hills. 194 

From Guatemala City to Tegucigalpa, Honduras 

Two Little Countries and a Big One. 202 

Salvador, British Honduras, and Nicaragua 

A Rich Coast and Country. 210 

Costa Rica 

Old Glory in Panama. 216 

Panama Canal Zone 

Odd Ways in the Caribbean. 225 

Trinidad, Martinique, Puerto Rico, and Hispaniola 

Isles of Enchantment. 237 

Jamaica, Cuba, and the Bahamas 

Fishes, Apples, and Foxes. 249 

Nova Scotia, Cape Breton Island, New Brunswick, 
and Prince Edward Island 

Today’s Quebec with Yesterday’s Charm. 263 

Quebec 

Three Canadian Cities. 277 

Montreal, Ottawa, and Toronto 

West and Still Farther West. 292 

Through Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, and 
British Columbia 


















LIST OF 

FULL-PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGE 

What Peter and Nancy Saw in Canada. .Frontispiece 

The Fountain of Don Quixote. 59 

Mayan Ruins Near Quirigua. 175 

Cutting Trees for Chicle. 189 

A Jungle in Honduras. 197 

The Great Canadian Moose. 290 

Mountain Goats in Banff National Park. 301 

Beautiful Lake Louise. 305 


5 













TO ALL OF YOU WHO ARE 
GOOD NEIGHBORS 


N early everybody has at least one good 
neighbor, and truly fortunate people some¬ 
times have two. Uncle Sam is one of these very 
fortunate people. 

Peter and Nancy had always been fond of 
their rural neighbors, but, when they found they 
were going to visit their foreign neighbors, they 
were so happy and excited that they wished 
they could take all their friends on the journey. 
They wanted the children they knew and also 
the children they wished they knew. 

Won’t you come with them to visit the sunny, 
romantic neighbor on the south whose name is 
Mexico? And then, won’t you go on with Peter 
and Nancy into Canada, the beautiful rich 
neighbor on the north? 

The palms of Mexico and the evergreens of 
Canada are as different as the peoples and the 
customs of the countries. You’ll travel by car 
and train and boat; and whenever you need to 
make a long, fast jump, Jimmy Dustin will be 
there with his plane. 

The old car, with Uncle Lee at the wheel, is 
ready and waiting. Climb right in. You’re most 
welcome! 

The Author 


7 










PETER AND NANCY IN MEXICO 
CENTRAL AMERICA AND CANADA 


VISITING THE NEIGHBORS 

I T WAS an exciting and an appropriate way 
to start the New Year. Mr. Lee MacLaren, 
that globe-trotting uncle who had taken his 
nephew, Peter, and his niece, Nancy, on so many 
wonderful trips, proposed the new journey at 
the close of the family dinner. He had come to 
the MacLaren farm in Minnesota for the holi¬ 
days, and to enjoy the kind of plum pudding that 
only Mrs. MacLaren could make. 

“The New Year,” he announced to the assem¬ 
bled relatives, “is the proper time to call on the 
neighbors.” Then, quite as though he were say¬ 
ing, “Let’s run over and see the Browns,” he 
suggested, “Let’s take a trip to Mexico and then 
to Canada! What do you say, Peter? And you, 
Nancy?” 

“Oh, Uncle Lee!” Peter jumped to his feet 
shouting, while Nancy gazed steadily at her uncle, 
her gray eyes shining. 

Three days later Uncle Lee MacLaren bun¬ 
dled his charges into his car and headed south¬ 
ward with them. All three were bronzed from 
their long trip to Australia. Uncle Lee was 


9 



10 


PETER AND NANCY IN MEXICO 


thinner, but his blue eyes were alight at the 
prospect of more adventure. Peter had shot up 
to a lanky height, but he was hard and firm of 
muscle. Nancy had become almost a young lady. 
Her smile was eager as she met Peter’s grin. 

“A visit to the neighbors!” she exulted. 

The trip south was rapid, with mere glimpses 
of Minnesota clad in its blanket of snow. 

There was a succession of pictures, etched 
clearly and vividly, which would long be remem¬ 
bered. Cattle and hogs feeding on cornstalks 
in Iowa, or huddled together to escape the wintry 
blasts! Drifting roads where their car slowly 
followed a snowplow! Cozy warmth where Uncle 
Lee decided on a brief rest in Des Moines! Run¬ 
ning out of an Iowa snowstorm into sleet in 
northern Missouri and having to scrape the freez¬ 
ing moisture off the windshield! 

A night at Kansas City! Off in the early morn¬ 
ing! Through western Missouri, seeing great 
peach and apple orchards! Then the foothills of 
the Ozarks! Barefoot children playing in the 
sun! Negro mammies washing clothes in a big 
iron kettle in the yard! Derricks in the oil fields 
of Oklahoma and Texas! 

A night at Dallas! Peter and Nancy wishing 
they might stop at San Antonio for a view of 
the Alamo! Passing winter gardens and grape¬ 
fruit groves! 

Laredo, the Texas border town, looked more 
Mexican than American. At least half the peo- 



VISITING THE NEIGHBORS 


11 


pie on the streets had black hair and brownish 
skin. The signs in the store windows were in 
Spanish. At the United States Post Office, where 
the MacLarens received mail from home, the 
clerks spoke Spanish much better than they did 
English. The city was full of beautiful homes 
showing the influence of Spanish architecture, 
with their pink, orange, blue, and lavender walls, 
and their gaily flowering patios, the delightful 
garden squares around which the homes were 
built, and where the women and children usually 
spent the day. Peter had once read a definition 
of a patio that he often quoted: A Spanish house 
wrapped around the yard, instead of a yard 
wrapped around the house. 

Plazas, too, delighted Peter, for they were 
important parks, beautiful with flowers and trees 
and fountains. Around them the life of the town 
revolved. In the evening the band played, and 
everybody strolled about to enjoy the music and 
to visit with friends and neighbors. 

There were two Laredos, Peter and Nancy 
knew. There was this Laredo in Texas and 
another Laredo across the river, known as New 
Laredo, or Nuevo Laredo. The MacLarens, after 
resting for a night, repacked their luggage for 
a trip into Mexico. 

Peter and Nancy were impressed by the fact 
that they were about to cross an international 
border, but the dark-eyed children playing near 
the bridge of the historic Rio Grande River ac- 



12 


PETER AND NANCY IN MEXICO 



James Sawders 

THE BOUNDARY MARKER 

cepted the wonder of living on the border as a 
matter of course. 

Uncle Lee objected to a sticker, printed Tour¬ 
ist, on his car. It had a hands-across-the-border 
motif which Nancy declared to be intriguing. 

^‘We^re not tourists, we’re geographers!” Uncle 
Lee explained to the swarthy young man who 
had applied the sticker. 

A grin was the only answer. 

‘^Uncle Lee, please let Nancy and me walk 
across the bridge into Mexico,” Peter begged. 








VISITING THE NEIGHBORS 


13 


“We want to examine the detachable aluminum 
railing. You said it was the only one in the 
world. There’s a whole crowd from the school 
going over.” 

“All right,” Uncle Lee agreed. “You know we 
don’t have to have passports. I’ve got our tourist 
cards which permit us to travel in Mexico for 
six months. Our baggage has been inspected, 
and I’ve paid the duty on the car. There is 
nothing more to detain us.” 

Nancy was more quiet than Peter as the two 
started across the bridge. The Mexicans called 
this the “Wild River of the North,” but there 
seemed to be nothing wild about it. It was a 
sluggish, brownish stream with thirsty-looking 
banks. As far as Nancy could see, there was 
nothing but rough, barren country. The river 
boasted few boats, no mill wheels, and, as Uncle 
Lee said later, no fish to speak of. 

“Well, it’s good as a boundary.” Nancy spoke 
her thoughts aloud. Then she realized that the 
river wasn’t even a good boundary because it 
twisted and turned too much. The boundary 
that it outlined was close to seven hundred miles 
as the crow flies. Uncle Lee had told about the 
commission in Washington that had to keep the 
farmers along the river from changing nation¬ 
ality every time the river took a new twist or 
turn. 

Peter stopped at the middle of the bridge to 
look at the boundary marker. Its silver sides 



14 


PETER AND NANCY IN MEXICO 


bore the coats of arms of the United States and 
of Mexico. Nancy stood beside her brother. 

“I think I like our eagle better,” she remarked. 
“Theirs is perched on a spiny cactus and holds 
a rattlesnake. But I suppose cactus and snakes 
are typical of the country. What do you think of 
the Rio Grande, Peter? Disappointed?” 

“I should say not!” Peter’s blue eyes shone like 
the smiling Mexican sky. “It’s an exciting river! 
Think of the bandits and cattle thieves that wade 
through its shallows or splash across it on their 
horses! Think of the Mexican immigrants that 
steal across it at night through some new turn 
of the river! Government officials can’t guard 
every inch. Then there’s the other side.” 

“Other side of the river, or other side of the 
picture?” Nancy teased. 

“Picture, if you choose to call it that,” Peter 
explained with dignity. “Every single year we 
have the help of forty thousand Mexican workers, 
crossing the border to work. They don’t mind 
manual labor. They pick cotton, repair rail¬ 
ways, help in the oil industry. And we supply 
a good deal of the food and clothing that Mexico 
uses. In another minute we’ll be in Mexico. 
There’s Nuevo Laredo ahead. Let’s race for it.” 

At that moment Uncle Lee’s car came along¬ 
side, and Uncle Lee insisted that Peter and Nancy 
get into the back seat and ride. 

They were amazed at the contrast between 
the prosperous Laredo in Texas and this Nuevo 



VISITING THE NEIGHBORS 


15 



James Sawders 

THE CUSTOMHOUSE IN NUEVO LAREDO 

Laredo just across the river in Mexico. Paved 
streets were few, and Uncle Lee^s car stirred 
the deep dust that rose to envelop it. 

There were a few modern buildings in the 
town including a hotel, but the homes could not 
compare with the gay stucco houses of Laredo. 

Nancy coughed in the dusty air. Through the 
brownish fog of it she saw peddlers in broad- 
brimmed hats and shabby, loose garments selling 
candy, fruits, and biscuits. Once, when the car 
slowed, a beggar besought Uncle Lee for some 
coins. He was rewarded, whereupon other beg¬ 
gars joined in a hue and cry. 

To escape them Uncle Lee drove the car down 






16 


PETER AND NANCY IN MEXICO 


a street to the river’s edge where women were 
beating clothes on the rocks. 

‘The Mexican washboard!” Peter exclaimed. 

Uncle Lee turned the car back uptown and 
followed in the wake of the one tiny, rough¬ 
riding streetcar to the railway station. It was 
a small wooden building, constructed in Spanish 
style. But the railway employees outdid them¬ 
selves to be resplendent. Their uniforms were 
handsome, and all their acts were executed with 
a flourish. 

An American train arrived from San Antonio, 
a flne train such as Peter and Nancy were accus¬ 
tomed to ride on back home. But before it left 
the station second-class cars were coupled to it. 
Uncle Lee said fares were very low in these cars, 
and he secured permission for Peter and Nancy 
to inspect one. 

The car had wooden-slat benches. There were 
lengthwise benches running along the sides of 
the car. In the middle were ten pairs of seats, 
back to back. Peter and Nancy tried the middle 
seats and thought it would be fun to go down 
to Mexico City by rail if only Uncle Lee had not 
decided to drive. 

“All Mexican trains burn oil,” Uncle Lee said. 
“You’d have no trouble on this train from soot or 
cinders. But there would be plenty of smoke.” 

“From what?” Nancy asked as Uncle Lee 
ushered her and Peter out of the car. 

“From the passengers,” Uncle Lee replied. 



VISITING THE NEIGHBORS 


17 


^^Both the men and the women smoke a great 
deal, and the tobacco isn’t always a mild variety.” 

^^There aren’t many railways in Mexico, are 
there. Uncle Lee?” Peter inquired. “I mean 
American railways.” 

The MacLarens were back on the platform 
again, and crowds were arriving. Uncle Lee 
chatted on, ^‘The only American railway now in 
Mexico is the Southern Pacific that runs down 
the west side of Mexico to Guadalajara, second 
largest city in Mexico. Almost all the other 
railways are now combined under the National 
Railways of Mexico and are run by Mexicans. 
There is really a very efficient network of rail¬ 
ways across the country, as you will see.... 
Well, let’s get started. It’s a scant 150 miles to 
Monterrey, and we’ll make it before dinner.” 

Uncle Lee took out his watch. One of the 
railway officials had come out on the platform, 
and Uncle Lee asked, ^^May I have the correct 
time, please?” 

^Tndeed, yes, sir,” the official replied. ‘Tt is 
now precisely fifteen o’clock.” 

Peter grinned significantly at Nancy. 

Uncle Lee seemed not in the least perturbed. 
He set his watch as Peter and Nancy stared. 
The hands told them it was exactly three o’clock. 

‘Uode?” Peter inquired amusedly. 

^^Not at all,” Uncle Lee spoke briskly. ‘Tt’s 
a very sensible system. No question here as to 
whether or not a train is coming in at two in 



18 


PETER AND NANCY IN MEXICO 


the morning or two in the afternoon. These 
sane Mexicans begin their counting at twelve 
o^clock midnight and keep right on counting up 
to twenty-four o’clock. It avoids confusion. Over 
the radio both times are given. An announcer 
will say, Tt is precisely 15 o’clock or 3 P. M.’ ” 

Back in the car once more, the MacLarens said 
good-by to Nuevo Laredo. 

The road was surprisingly good, with few 
crooks and turns. Part of it. Uncle Lee said, 
was claimed by the Mexicans to be the longest 
beeline stretch of motor highway in the world. 
On either side there was nothing but dusty brown 
plains dotted with mesquite shrubs, cactus, and 
other thorny plants. 

The sun was a warm gold, and the sand seemed 
bathed in light. The air was balmy. 

‘T wish we could send some of this heat up to 
Minnesota,” Peter remarked. 

Nancy squirmed in her heavy wool suit. 

‘‘Before we leave Mexico,” she remarked, “we’ll 
be wishing that Minnesota would send a few 
snowflakes down here.” 



CLIMBING SOUTHWARD 


I N THE slanting rays of the' sun the desert 
took on a new beauty. Already the Mac- 
Larens felt the fascination of the brown, dusty 
plains with their odd, thorny vegetation and scat¬ 
tered Indian huts. 

The blur on the sky line became the Sierra 
Madre range of mountains. In the midst of the 
brown plains appeared the town of Monterrey 
against a saddle-shaped mountain. 

Uncle Lee remarked that Monterrey was often 
called the Pittsburgh of Mexico because of its 
smelters, its foundries, and its factories. He 
grumbled a little bit because, so he said, Ameri¬ 
cans who ran down to Monterrey for a gala time, 
had made it an expensive town for tourists. 

Nancy exclaimed over the flat-roofed houses of 
Moorish-Spanish architecture. With their varied 
colors they seemed to fit into the landscape. 

Because the big hotels were so expensive Uncle 
Lee drove his car into the outskirts of the town. 
At a roadside inn the MacLarens were served a 
dinner of American food, but Uncle Lee ordered 
a side dish of chili con came, a peppery dish of 
meat served with beans, which Peter and Nancy 
tasted gingerly. 

In the evening the MacLarens drove about the 
town. Uncle Lee pointed out buildings that looked 


19 


20 


PETER AND NANCY IN MEXICO 



Ewing Galloway 

AN INDIAN FAMILY AT HOME 

as though they might have been built by the 
exploring Spaniards when they founded the city 
about 1560. Nancy loved the story of the young 
daughter of the conqueror, Montezuma, who came 
as an invalid to Monterrey to enjoy its sunny cli¬ 
mate and its natural hot springs, and later re¬ 
turned home well and happy. 

Early next morning the MacLarens drove out 
of Monterrey. In great fields men were cutting 
sugar cane. 

^^Seems funny, cutting sugar cane in January,’^ 
Peter remarked, ^Vhen our fields back home are 
covered with snow.^’ 

Patches of different kinds of vegetation seemed 




CLIMBING SOUTHWARD 


21 



James Sawders 

A SUBSTITUTE FOR MOTOR POWER 


to run in series. There would appear a long 
field of sugar cane, then sandy desert with low, 
fat-leaved cactus and mesquite, followed by more 
sugar cane. 

Before long Peter and Nancy saw their first 
palms in Mexico. They were short, stubby palms, 
but they sprouted big clusters of white bells. 

Twenty-one miles south of Monterrey Uncle 
Lee turned the car into a side road, a bumpety- 
bumpety road, as Nancy described it. They 
passed a group of natives who were loading a 
truck that most people would have discarded. 
The motor was gone. As a substitute for motor 
power, two mules were hitched to the body of 
the truck. 



22 


PETER AND NANCY IN MEXICO 


wouldn^t take long to wear out a car on 
roads like these/’ commented Uncle Lee. 

Half an hour later the MacLarens drove into 
the lovely estate known as the Plantation of the 
Beautiful View. 

The American friend who ran the plantation 
welcomed Uncle Lee’s party with a hospitality 
that warmed their hearts. While the cook pre¬ 
pared lunch for them, the MacLarens wandered 
through the orchard. Mounds of oranges had 
been piled under the trees, and Uncle Lee ob¬ 
served, ‘We’re welcome to all we can eat.” 

Eating the juicy, delicious oranges, Peter and 
Nancy followed Uncle Lee into a little canyon in 
which grew immense elephant-ear ferns and other 
tropical plants. The children were so greatly 
impressed with the big leaves that they did not 
notice the lovely scene ahead until Uncle Lee 
shouted, “There’s Horsetail Waterfall!” 

The little waterfall pitched down from the 
mesa above into a pool beneath. 

“It does look like the silvery tail of a gray 
horse,” Peter declared. 

After lunch the MacLarens drove back to the 
highway and continued their journey southward. 
Now higher palms appeared. Against the sky 
line rose organ cacti, looking very much like 
the pipes of an organ. The cacti were rough and 
spiny. Near the top were short, thick little arms. 

“It’s 180 miles from Monterrey to Ciudad Vic¬ 
toria,” Uncle Lee observed. 



CLIMBING SOUTHWARD 


23 



Ewing Galloway 


AN ORGAN CACTUS PLANT 

“And a good road all the way!” Peter ex¬ 
claimed. 

“It’s known as the Pan-American Highway, 
isn’t it, Uncle Lee?” Nancy asked. “At school 




24 


PETER AND NANCY IN MEXICO 



James Sawders 

THE PAN-AMERICAN HIGHWAY 

we learned that ^pan’ is from the Greek and 
means all This highway extends through Amer¬ 
ica and makes us feel as though we were just 
going to visit a neighbor. It goes all the way to 
Mexico City, doesn^t it, Uncle Lee?’’ 

^^Yes,” Uncle Lee responded, ^^and when it is 
finally completed it will reach from Mexico to 
Alaska. The last time I was here this road was 
being blasted out and filled with crushed stone. 
There seemed to be an endless row of Indians 
working on it to make it smooth for the gringos^ 
or tourists.” 

^‘Gringos!” Peter laughed. ‘T suppose I’m a 
gringo. Nancy, you’re a gringo, too!” 




CLIMBING SOUTHWARD 


25 


‘‘Uncle Lee, is that a Mexican word?’^ Nancy 
asked. 

“No. It^s a coined word,’’ Uncle Lee explained. 
“A nickname! Mexicans used to use it in an in¬ 
sulting manner, but nowadays it^s more often a 
term of affection than otherwise. Some people 
think the name originated during our war with 
Mexico in 1848.^^ 

“How?’^ Peter asked eagerly. 

“American soldiers at that time frequently 
sang one of Robert Burns’ poems. It began, 
‘Green grow the rushes, 0.’ Well, out of that 
phrase ‘green grow’ came the word gringo. 
‘Believe it or not!’ ” 

The road continued to climb, winding in and 
out of mountain passes. The cornfields in small 
patches gave way to sand and mesquite. 

“The mountains seem to be closing in on us,” 
Peter decided. “I’m glad it isn’t Mexican ban¬ 
dits. Uncle Lee, the engine is beginning to feel 
the altitude.” 

“Saltillo ahead,” said Uncle Lee as he frowned 
at the sputtering engine. “I’m going to leave 
the car there anyway and have it driven into 
Mexico City. We’ll go by train.” 

The car limped into a garage, and the Mac- 
Larens rushed to the railway station in a cab. 
There they learned that a train did not leave 
until almost midnight. 

Peter and Nancy strolled eagerly about the 
quaint little town. It was very cool and invigor- 



26 


PETER AND NANCY IN MEXICO 



James Sawders 

DONKEYS CARRYING FODDER 

ating, and the big market was splashed with 
the color of oranges and bananas and papayas. 
Dust rose about the legs of donkeys laden with 
produce, but that was not surprising since Janu¬ 
ary was the driest month of the year in Mexico. 
Moreover, Saltillo was a mile high and in a 
fruit-producing area. 

It was impossible to secure space in the first- 
class, air-cooled cars. But that fact did not dis¬ 
courage Uncle Lee. It would be an experience for 
Peter and Nancy to ride in the second-class cars; 






CLIMBING SOUTHWARD 


27 


besides, it would save money. There would be 
more pesos to spend in Mexico City. 

The car appeared to be crowded to capacity 
as the MacLarens entered it, for the long benches, 
as well as the back-to-back seats in the middle, 
were occupied. However, a pretty, black-haired 
woman placed one of her sleeping children on the 
floor and made room for Nancy. Some boys 
moved over to make room for Peter on the long 
bench, and Uncle Lee was offered space between 
two somber Indians who were smoking very black 
cigars. There was an air of good-natured hos¬ 
pitality, and the MacLarens were made to feel 
very welcome. 

Men standing near the doors wore their som- 
breros, those broad-brimmed hats worn by every 
native or adopted Mexican. Others in the car 
dozed with their sombreros tilted down over their 
dark faces, or sliding off their laps onto the floor. 

As the train pulled out, a finely dressed Mexi¬ 
can angrily pushed his way into the car. But he 
was somewhat mollified at the sight of the Ameri¬ 
can travelers, who also had failed to secure ac¬ 
commodations in the first-class cars. 

Neither Peter nor Nancy could take their eyes 
off this picturesque person with flashing dark 
eyes, gleaming white teeth, handsome sombrero, 
rich jacket, and tight trousers. Most of the som¬ 
breros in the second-class car were of coarse 
straw or thick felt, but every one was decorated 
with colored tape and embroidery. The hat of 



28 


PETER AND NANCY IN MEXICO 


the important personage was trimmed with much 
gleaming silver and must have been very heavy 
to wear. 

The wealthy Mexican’s jacket reached only to 
his waist and was ornate with much embroidery 
and many buttons. The shirt, without collar or 
necktie, was a bright blue. About his slim waist 
he had wound a bright red sash of silk. The tight 
trousers were decorated with rows of buttons 
from waist to ankles. The heels of his shoes 
were much higher than Uncle Lee’s. 

Uncle Lee, who managed finally to secure a 
seat near Peter and Nancy, explained that it was 
not unusual for a Mexican to pay a hundred 
dollars or more for a sombrero. 

As the train climbed, Nancy observed that most 
of the men in the car wore pieces of cowhide tied 
with leather strings in place of shoes. 

^^GuamcheSy” Uncle Lee explained. ^^And those 
blankets with the slits through which to stick 
their heads are ponchos. They take the place of 
overcoats and are sometimes used as saddles or 
bedding.” 

''Don’t the women wear hats?” Nancy asked, 
her gaze traveling over the dark, shining femi¬ 
nine heads with blue-black hair parted and coiled 
at the nape of the neck in every case. The chil¬ 
dren’s heads of hair were like black satin caps. 

"The women wear the rebozo, a combination 
shawl and head wrap,” Uncle Lee explained. 
"Their skirts are always full and long, and they 



CLIMBING SOUTHWARD 


29 



James Sawders 


SPINNING WOOL FOR SERAPES 

seldom wear shoes. Some wear sandals while 
traveling, but in the villages they go barefoot. 
Why Mexican men .and boys wear shoes while 
girls and women go barefoot I do not know.” 

The farther south the train went, the cooler 
the night air became because of the altitude. The 
good-natured crowd settled down in scrapes, and 
the MacLarens got out their coats. 

Toward daylight Uncle Lee remarked that they 
were crossing the Tropic of Cancer into the Tor¬ 
rid Zone, but neither Peter nor Nancy heard. 












30 


PETER AND NANCY IN MEXICO 


Kindly Mexicans had wrapped them in serapes, 
and they were sleeping in warmth and comfort. 

When they did awaken, the sun was up, and the 
bare, brown landscape was flying by. Peter and 
Nancy wanted to know what had become of the 
mountains. Uncle Lee explained that the reason 
they couldn’t see the mountains was because they 
were on top of them. 

Southward from Saltillo the train had run 
through Catorce, a rocky little town near the 
richest silver mines in Mexico. Now it was 
speeding across miles of broad plains. Field after 
field of maguey appeared. 

Bright eyes began to smile. Travelers gathered 
up luggage. 

“We’re coming into San Luis Potosi,” Uncle 
Lee said. 

The well-dressed Mexican beamed. 

“San Luis Potosi!” He rolled the words on his 
tongue. “It is one of the most modern cities of 
Mexico. It has a perfect climate. It has the 
most beautiful cathedral. Its people are very 
kind. It is the capital of the state of San Luis 
Potosi which was the first state in Mexico to 
pass laws in favor of the working classes such 
as the people you see in this car.” 

Several Mexicans laughed good-naturedly. 

“Let the Americans judge for themselves,” 
suggested an old Mexican. “I have been in their 
Texas. They will be surprised and pleased with 
our San Luis Potosi.” 



LIFE IN THE HIGHLANDS 


W HEN they stood upon the platform at San 
Luis Potosi, Peter and Nancy were sur¬ 
prised to find that they were perfectly comfort¬ 
able in their coats. The air was cold and clear. 
Uncle Lee said that on his last visit, it had been 
rainy and that he had had to walk or stay in bed 
in order to keep warm. Now the winter sun 
shone pleasantly. 

The station was lively with men and boys beg¬ 
ging for a chance to carry luggage. They all 
wore tight trousers, short jackets, and collarless 
shirts. In addition, nearly every one had slipped 
a serape over his head for warmth and had tied 
guaraches on his feet for protection. Uncle Lee 
picked two shabby youths to carry the hand 
luggage. 

“I wonder what a breakfast here would be 
like,” Peter hinted. 

“Let’s find out,” Uncle Lee agreed. 

At a small table in a dark little restaurant the 
three travelers were soon enjoying hot tortillas 
and delicious chocolate. There was a hint of 
vanilla and spice in the chocolate, and it was 
stirred with a swizzle stick. Uncle Lee explained. 

“Mexican chocolate is always good,” he de¬ 
clared. “Now we’ll go over to a real Mexican 
hotel and get some rest. Tomorrow is Saturday, 
31 


32 


PETER AND NANCY IN MEXICO 


market day, and I want you to feel refreshed in 
order to enjoy it.’’ 

The hotel proved to be even more simple than 
Uncle Lee had implied it might be. There was no 
plumbing, and Nancy had to ask for a pitcher 
of water and a bowl. There was no furniture 
in her room except a hard bed, a table, and a 
chair. Nancy lay down on the bed with her coat 
over her and almost immediately fell asleep. She 
did not awaken until Uncle Lee and Peter 
pounded on her door, shouting, ^Time for dinner!” 

The dinner in the hotel was a regular Mex¬ 
ican meal, according to Uncle Lee. There was 
a thin soup, some boiled beef and watery vege¬ 
tables served with hot tortillas and peppers. 
Then followed some rice and chili con came. For 
dessert Peter and Nancy ate oranges, and Uncle 
Lee drank the blackest coffee they had ever seen. 

Strolling along the cobbled streets, the Mac- 
Larens viewed many well-constructed buildings, 
including a really interesting cathedral. 

“There seem to be two towers on all Mexican 
churches,” Nancy observed. “And they are 
nearly always whitewashed and then decorated 
with royal blue and bits of gilt.” 

“I like the idea of two towers,” Peter declared. 
“Some churches are built in lonely places. One 
tower would look sad from lack of companion¬ 
ship.” 

“I like that idea, Peter,” Nancy conceded. 
“Yes, two towers can keep each other company.” 



LIFE IN THE HIGHLANDS 


33 


As the MacLarens approached some of the 
residences, they saw that nearly every house was 
built around a garden patio, even the most 
crumbly adobe home. Nancy stopped to peek in 
at a girl of her own age who was sweeping the 
patio of her home with a twig broom. 

The little girl glanced up shyly and invited the 
strangers to look at her garden. She and Uncle 
Lee chatted in Spanish while Peter and Nancy 
admired the blooming plants. Magenta bougain¬ 
villea climbed a wall against which poinsettias 
were still in bloom. Uncle Lee said the poin¬ 
settias were called noches buenas, or flowers of 
Christmas Eve. 

A yucca lily rose high against the little adobe 
house, a great cluster of creamy bells at the top 
of its tall stem. Large showy hibiscus flowers 
swayed on thin branches, and against the blue 
sky rose the ball-like flowers of an acacia tree. 
There was the spicy fragrance of carnations in 
the air. 

On Saturday morning the MacLarens visited 
the market, which overflowed from the covered 
portion onto the sidewalks. Some of the native 
Indians had only a tiny heap of peanuts to sell, 
or some coarse sugar cakes, or a few faggots. 
But other dealers displayed serapes, made in 
Tlaxacala, or fine drawn work and needlework 
from neighboring villages. There were palm-leaf 
hats, chocolate beaters, canes, pottery, and tiles, 
among other things. 



34 


PETER AND NANCY IN MEXICO 



A STREET SCENE ON MARKET DAY 


Donkeys brought in great baskets of tomatoes and 
gourds, bubble-shaped jars, and net sacks of 
charcoal. There were bunches of flowers, includ¬ 
ing wild flowers from the hills. The children 
saw bright vegetables, golden cheeses, and fowls. 
They saw also blankets, rebozos, skirts, and hand¬ 
kerchiefs, with sandals and boots, for sale. Peter 
bought a clay toy bank, but he dropped it before 
he left the market. It broke into pieces which 
were soon trampled in the dust. 

The MacLarens left the cool, high city of San 








LIFE IN THE HIGHLANDS 


35 


Luis Potosi on an air-conditioned train bound for 
Mexico City. 

South of San Luis Potosi, Uncle Lee leaned 
over the back of the seat in which Peter and 
Nancy sat, to point out a field of maguey. 

Now as the train sped onward, Peter began to 
laugh. So did Nancy. 

^^No need to point out maguey to us now,^’ 
Peter observed. ‘We’ll probably never see so 
much maguey again.” 

Maguey grew along the railway tracks. All 
over the rolling land it grew in long, green rows. 
It spread out over the plains, seeming to rise and 
fall in great green waves. The plants were a 
rich bluish-green and, in appearance, much like 
huge artichokes. 

“They don’t look very juicy,” Nancy observed. 
“I’d never guess, to look at them, that they fur¬ 
nished pulque, the best known Mexican drink.” 

Peons carrying long gourds and pigskin sacks 
were bending over some of the plants in near¬ 
by fields. 

“What are they doing. Uncle Lee?” Nancy in¬ 
quired. “I suppose they’re getting pulque. But 
how?” 

“We may as well go over the whole process,” 
Uncle Lee answered. “You see, the maguey 
plant grows for about seven years before it 
blooms. Then it withers and from the root 
sprouts another plant. Just before the plant 
blooms, the workers cut out the base of the plant. 



36 


PETER AND NANCY IN MEXICO 


shaping it like a great bowl. Sap gathers rapidly 
in this bowl, five or six quarts a day. The fiow 
lasts three or four months. The sap, which is a 
milky fluid, is called aguamiel, or honey water. 
It stays sweet about twelve hours. So long as it 
is sweet it is a pleasant drink that cannot hurt 
one.” 

When the train pulled into the station of Maris- 
cala, and the venders began shouting, “Agua¬ 
miel!” Uncle Lee went out on the platform and 
returned with a cupful of the much-lauded drink. 
He poured a small amount into paper cups which 
he took from the water cooler of the train. Peter 
and Nancy each took a sip. Nancy said, “I think 
I’ve had enough; thank you. Uncle Lee.” 

But Peter declared, “It isn’t bad at all. It 
tastes a lot like buttermilk.” 

“Those peons you saw in the field suck the sap 
up into the gourds they carry,” Uncle Lee ex¬ 
plained. “Then they pour it into pigskin sacks. 
They carry the sacks to the plantation from which 
it is to be shipped. From there it is sent to the 
market at once. 

“If you two don’t get enthusiastic about agua¬ 
miel,” Uncle Lee remarked, “you won’t be real 
natives. Aguamiel is the national drink. But 
this ‘honey water’ isn’t such a mild drink when it 
has soured. It becomes pulque then.” 

The train had passed through more mountain¬ 
ous country and was now nearing Queretaro. 

“We’re not much more than a hundred miles 



LIFE IN THE HIGHLANDS 


37 



Ewing Galloway 

CARRYING SACKS OF PULQUE TO MARKET 

from Mexico City,” Uncle Lee said. “Would you 
like to stop off here?” 

Queretaro which occupied the site of an Otomi 
Indian town founded about 1400, proved to be a 
delightful mixture of ancient and modern life. 
The MacLarens rode on the street railway, visited 
the Bank of Queretaro, and gazed upon the 
governor’s palace of basalt. But the ancient land¬ 
marks of the city were more appealing. There 
were the famous Hercules cotton mills, the Santa 
Eosa convent, the old Bull Ring, the Plaza Zenea, 
and the old aqueduct built centuries ago by the 







38 


PETER AND NANCY IN MEXICO 



James Sawders 


THE OLD SPANISH AQUEDUCT 

Spaniards. It still brought water to Queretaro. 

The people seemed most proud of their Civil 
College and the Iturbide Theater and derived 
great pleasure from showing them to visitors who 
came to their city. 

Out from the city at some distance were the 
opal mines. They had been worked from the 
earliest times, and there were not many stones 
left. The blue stones with their hearts of fire 
seemed to Peter and Nancy somehow like the 
golden-skinned, black-eyed workers. There was 
an outer calmness but an inward desire for better 
things. Both Peter and Nancy hoped the opals 
would bring good fortune to the modern Mexicans. 




THE OLDEST CAPITAL IN AMERICA 


T he train zigzagged upward from Queretaro 
toward Mexico City. Fields of maguey and 
corn gave way to scrub oak. At Tula, the ancient 
capital of the Toltecs, Uncle Lee pointed out the 
great cut in the hills by which the valley of Ana- 
huac must be kept drained to prevent floods. 
There was the monotonous hum of the rails as the 
hours flew by. 

At the rim of a great natural bowl, Peter and 
Nancy looked down at a sun-drenched crater in 
which lay a gleaming, beautiful city surrounded 
by a jeweled necklace of lakes. The long slopes 
of the mountain rose ten thousand feet above 
steeples and domes as though proudly proclaim¬ 
ing the wonderful city. 

''Popocatepetl is the landmark of the valley,” 
Uncle Lee volunteered, looking over PeteFs and 
Nancy’s shoulders. "The Mexicans call it Popo. 
In Aztec the name means 'smoky mountain.’ Popo 
is about eighteen thousand feet high, the highest 
mountain in all Mexico except Orizaba in the state 
of Veracruz.” 

"Popo’s a volcano,” Peter exclaimed. "Has it 
ever erupted. Uncle Lee?” 

"There have been ten eruptions since records 
began,” Uncle Lee answered. "It is said that 
Cortez let men down into its crater on ropes to get 


39 


40 


PETER AND NANCY IN MEXICO 


sulphur for gunpowder. The amount of sulphur 
that nature has stored in that crater is probably 
beyond our comprehension. The Mexicans will 
tell you that they have already removed about 
100,000,000 tons. That is enough sulphur to 
make matches to supply the world.’’ 

^Tt doesn’t look very warm,” Nancy observed. 

‘‘Nor is it,” Uncle Lee agreed. “Its caves often 
supply ice for the towns down on the plains. 
Do you see Ixtacihuatl?” 

“That’s the mountain linked to Popo,” Nancy 
cried. “Our history said that when Cortez led his 
army down to attack the Mexicans he made his 
way over the saddle that connects the two moun¬ 
tains.” 

The swift train carried its passengers down 
into the sunlit city, and the MacLarens found 
themselves, with tourists and citizens, in the 
Colonia Station. They joined the throngs that 
poured out into the streets. 

“I can hardly wait to see the city.” Nancy 
caught up with Uncle Lee as he strode ahead. 
“It’s the oldest big city in the western hemi¬ 
sphere, isn’t it?” 

“No one knows how old,” Uncle Lee told her. 
“When the Spaniards came, it was already a 
large prosperous city. Historians say it was 
founded several centuries before the first settle¬ 
ment of North America.” 

The MacLarens got into a taxi, and Uncle Lee 
said, ''Plaza de la Constitucion !.... I’m going to 




THE OLDEST CAPITAL IN AMERICA 


41 



James Sawders 

THE RESIDENTIAL DISTRICT OF MEXICO CITY 

show you the largest plaza in Mexico City. We’ll 
go to our hotel later. But I want you to see a 
cross section of this great city first. Try to pic¬ 
ture the city as Cortez saw it on that November 
day in 1519 when he looked upon a scene never 
before viewed by a white man.” 

As Uncle Lee talked, the scene became alive. 
The black-bearded Spaniard rode his white horse, 
the first horse ever seen by Aztecs, into the 
city, and his silver armor gleamed in the warm, 
clear sunlight. His bright, dark eyes glinted 
at sight of the palaces, the markets, and the laden 





42 


PETER AND NANCY IN MEXICO 


barges, heavy with produce of all kinds. Monte¬ 
zuma, the Aztec emperor, glittering with gold 
and jewels, came out to meet him. 

Here, where Cortez had expected only wilder¬ 
ness or savage life at best, was the richest city 
he had ever beheld. As the Spanish leader and 
his men followed Montezuma down a paved 
street lined with stone buildings, their hearts 
beat high with excitement. Their adventurous 
eyes made note of the busy canals and market 
stalls. Ahead stood the great palace of Mon¬ 
tezuma's father in which Cortez and his men 
were invited to rest. 

Facing that palace was the great sacrificial 
teocalli, or temple. Here the newcomers first 
saw the horrible idol, the god of war. The idol 
had huge, terrible eyes, a girdle of snakes about 
its body, and a sheaf of arrows in its hands. 
Precious jewels had been set into the metal. To 
this god the Aztecs, as the Spaniards learned, 
sacrificed many innocent people every year. 

Uncle Lee ordered the driver to go slowly. 
The great plaza proved to be a beautiful, large 
park with many walks. Across the plaza, near 
the site of the ancient Aztec temple, rose an 
impressive cathedral. The first Christian church 
in Mexico, Uncle Lee said, had been erected upon 
the debris of the pagan temple here in Mexico 
City. The present cathedral was the work of 
several generations. 

The MacLarens got out of the taxi and strolled 



THE OLDEST CAPITAL IN AMERICA 


43 


through the plaza. Their luggage went on to 
the hotel. 

^We^re on historic ground/’ Uncle Lee de¬ 
clared. ^Tn 1521 a bloody battle between Aztecs 
and Spaniards was fought here. This plaza has 
seen one political party after another come into 
power. In 1822 Iturbide proclaimed himself em¬ 
peror in this plaza. In 1847 Winfield Scott, our 
American general, raised the Stars and Stripes 
here. Seventeen years later Maximilian saluted 
his subjects from one of the balconies overlooking 
this plaza. In 1867 General Porfirio Diaz was 
acclaimed here as a ‘hero and patriot,’ and later, 
from the same balcony, denounced as a traitor 
and murderer. Here was the focal point of all 
the revolutions from 1910 to 1923. This is a 
place where much tragic history has been made.” 

“It certainly doesn’t look like a place of terror 
now,” Nancy decided. “It looks peaceful and 
prosperous.” 

She glanced about at the many palaces, shops, 
markets, and the cathedral that faced the square. 
Uncle Lee pointed out ten thoroughfares that ran 
toward the great plaza, and he named three of 
the most famous avenues, Cinco de Mayo, Madero, 
and the 16 de Septiembre. 

Peter was amazed by the amount of traffic. 
Tramcars clanged, motorcars whirled by, and 
numberless pedestrians strolled along, while over¬ 
head an airplane motor droned. There seemed 
to be almost as many foreigners as natives. 



44 


PETER AND NANCY IN MEXICO 



James Sawders 

AN OPEN AIR TOY SHOP 


walk along the west side/’ Uncle Lee 
decided. want you to see one of the oldest 
markets. It was first built in 1524 when city offi¬ 
cials gave permission for dealers to build porti¬ 
coes to shelter goods displayed on sidewalks. 
Until recently evangelistasy or letter writers, also 
plied their trade under these shelters.” 

Before arriving at the immense market the 
MacLarens saw sandals and shoes and sombreros 
for sale. These hats had been sent in from every 
region in Mexico. 










THE OLDEST CAPITAL IN AMERICA 


45 


‘‘I thought sombreros were all more or less 
alike, especially in size and shape/^ Peter was 
puzzled. *^Look at this lot, Uncle Lee. They^re 
short and shallow. I never saw such low crowns.^' 

‘They^re from Jalisco and Michoacan,’' Uncle 
Lee explained. 

Peter paused a little later at a stall in which 
a pile of tall, conical hats with deep brims that 
rolled up gracefully were displayed. 

‘Trom Morelos,^’ Uncle Lee said briefly. 

‘‘And thoseNancy pointed at some large, 
cool-looking sombreros of rice palm leaf. 

“From Jaracuaro,^^ said Uncle Lee promptly. 

The walls of the old arcade under which the 
MacLarens strolled reminded Peter of the bill¬ 
boards at home; at least, so he said. The ancient 
walls were plastered with posters advertising 
bullfights or with notices of lotteries. 

The crowds were slow and good-natured. Peo¬ 
ple did not shove each other, and no one appeared 
to be in a hurry. Children stopped to enjoy the 
sight of cheap candies. Some prospective buyers 
fingered the picture postcards. Others tried on 
eyeglasses, then laughed gaily at the sight they 
presented. The young girls chose cheap, bright 
trinkets from the jewelry displays. 

“Nothing seems to cost very much,’' Peter 
observed. 

Uncle Lee told them that the Merced Market 
sold merchandise very reasonably and handled a 
great quantity of it. People in some of the out- 



46 


PETER AND NANCY IN MEXICO 



Ewing Galloway 

CARRYING GOODS TO MARKET 


lying villages walked miles in order to sell their 
products here. The finer shops, he explained, 
were on the fashionable avenues where anything 
from blown glass to intricate filigree jewelry 
could be bought. 

The stalls of ready-to-wear clothes were a de¬ 
light to Peter, who wanted to take a real Mexi¬ 
can suit home to show the neighbor boys. He 
chose tight trousers, a gay jacket with many but¬ 
tons, and a bright, collarless shirt. Nancy looked 
at the display of rebozos, the shawl-like garments 





THE OLDEST CAPITAL IN AMERICA 


47 



James Sawders 

ONE OF MEXICO CITY’S OLDEST MARKETS 

such as she had seen the native women wear¬ 
ing. It was a delight to her to see a few close at 
hand. Most of them were dark blue or brown or 
black with an allover design in white. The more 
expensive ones were brilliant in color with an 
allover design in black. Uncle Lee pointed out 
some of the hand-knotted long fringes, lacelike 
in their beauty. 

Peter had moved on to look at the serapes. 
There was one black-and-white one from Toluca 
that he decided would make a wonderful rug. 







48 


PETER AND NANCY IN MEXICO 


Nancy was intrigued by the morrales, or color¬ 
ful bags. But when she saw the tablecloths and 
the napkins with the borders of animal designs 
that had been worked in long-stitch by the Otomi 
Indians, she couldn^t quite decide what she did 
want to buy. Uncle Lee wisely suggested that 
actual shopping could be left until another day. 

Peter shouted to his sister that she simply 
must see the baskets at once. He pointed out 
reed baskets from Puebla, ivory-colored fiber 
ones from Guanajuato, and baskets with bands 
of black-stained reeds. A lovely basket of ma¬ 
genta and green had come in from Michoacan. 
Best of all was a colorful basket from Toluca. 
The Toluca basket was light, strong, firmly 
woven, and the designs of little men and animals 
were delightful. It was hard to come away from 
the stalls. Peter made a final purchase of a 
straw man riding a straw horse. 

^Uf course,’’ said Nancy, ‘‘the little boy has to 
have at least one toy to play with.” 

But when Nancy observed the cunning work¬ 
manship of the toy, she decided to purchase one 
for herself. 

Uncle Lee led the way to the south side of the 
plaza. 

“This is the Portal de las Flores, or the old 
flower market,” he explained. “Once canals led 
right up to the plaza, and Indians beached their 
canoes here.” 

A radio blared near by; an airplane soared over- 



THE OLDEST CAPITAL IN AMERICA 


49 


head; automobiles hurried past. It was hard 
for Peter and Nancy to picture the peaceful old 
flower market and the Indian canoes. 

^‘Near here/’ Uncle Lee declared soberly, ^^Diaz 
and his men saw slaves for sale. One record tells 
of the amazement of the Spaniards as they went 
from stall to stall. There were dealers in gold 
and silver and precious stones. There were deal¬ 
ers in thread and rope. There were dealers in 
chocolate, vegetables, and herbs. Men sold deer 
and rabbits and dogs. The Spaniards enjoyed 
honey, cooked roots, and salt from the market. 

very definite idea of the wild life round 
about the city was gained by the Spaniards when 
they saw the skins for sale. There were skins 
of pumas, ocelots, otters, deer, badgers, and 
mountain cats. 

‘‘The pottery even in those days,” Uncle Lee 
continued, “was colorful, beautiful, and practi¬ 
cable. Lumber was for sale, and stone knives 
were common.” 

But the Spaniards saw no greater sight than 
the great market as Peter and Nancy saw it. 

A taxi stopped at the curb. Seated beside 
Uncle Lee, they began a barrage of questions. 

“They say,” observed Uncle Lee archly, “that 
the hardest post in our foreign service is the post 
of ambassador to Mexico.” 

“Why?” Peter and Nancy asked together. 

“People ask so many questions here,” Uncle 
Lee answered dryly. 



THE FLOATING GARDENS 


P ETER and Nancy had planned to visit Xochi- 
milco, the Floating Gardens, ever since they 
arrived in Mexico City. As they drank their 
breakfast chocolate in the hotel dining room, they 
felt rather impatient with Uncle Lee. He was 
enjoying his papaya very leisurely, and he kept 
saying, “Give me papaya any day in place of 
the finest muskmelon.” 

“Uncle Lee,” Peter asked, thinking of the 
Floating Gardens, “don’t you think it strange 
that Mexico City, which you say is nearly a mile 
and a half above sea level, should be built on a 
swamp?” 

“Surely, Peter,” Nancy put in, “you know how 
Mexico City came to be built here. It wasn’t a 
question of whether the ground was swampy 
or not. The Aztecs saw an eagle perched on a 
cactus and holding a rattlesnake in its claws. 
According to their prophecies, here was the place 
to build Ten . . . Ten ...” 

“Tenochtitlan,” Uncle Lee supplied. “The early 
Aztecs surely had a problem. There were many 
more lakes and marshes than there are now, of 
course. To protect the city from floods, they 
built many dikes in Lake Texcoco. Texcoco, by 
the way, was a salt lake. I imagine the city once 
looked a great deal like Venice. There was a 


50 


THE FLOATING GARDENS 


51 


waterway for canoes and barges that ran away 
out to Lake Texcoco. The Spaniards, striving to 
do away with many floods, used Indian labor 
to build the great Tajo de Nochistongo trench to 
drain the valley lakes. The Indian labor was 
slave labor, and many men died before the great 
project was completed. But still floods came.'^ 

^The city looks safe enough now,^’ Peter ob¬ 
served. 

‘Tt’s been safe only since 1900,’’ Uncle Lee sur¬ 
prised Peter by saying. ‘‘Up to that time Mexico 
City had been diked and drained like a seaside 
city, yet it was located near a continental divide. 
Engineers finally solved the problem. They built 
the thirty-mile Canal del Desague. I want you 
two youngsters to think of it as you think of the 
Roosevelt Dam and the Panama Canal.” 

“We will,” Nancy promised, and asked, “Ready 
now to take us to the Floating Gardens?” 

“Tell us more about the canal first,” Peter 
begged. ‘‘Some day I’m going to be an engineer.” 

“I thought it was an aviator yesterday,” Nancy 
teased. 

“Thousands of men worked for years to dig 
this great ditch,” Uncle Lee explained. “They 
had to carry its tunnel more than six miles under 
the mountains. You can scarcely imagine the 
tons of earth that had to be moved.” 

“I can imagine the men and the teams,” Peter 
said, “and the steam shovels! And now Mexico 
City is perfectly safe,” he decided. 



52 


PETER AND NANCY IN MEXICO 


Nancy, who had seemed not particularly inter¬ 
ested, made a sudden observation. 

^^Some of the old buildings look rather tippy, 
if you ask me,’^ she said. ^^And some look as 
though they were sinking into the old swamp.’’ 

^^You’re right, Nancy,” Uncle Lee agreed. 
"‘Waste water is controlled by the engineers, but 
underground streams are still a worry. The 
land on which Mexico City is built is swampy, 
and many a heavy building is slowly sinking. 
Some day, let us hope, the problem of under¬ 
ground seepage may be solved. Anyway, the 
Floating Gardens are one of the beauty spots of 
this swampy land. The name Xochimilco means, 
in Aztec, ‘where flowers grow.’ You’ll not be 
disappointed.” 

The drive out to the gardens was a great sur¬ 
prise to both Peter and Nancy. The road led 
through cactus-lined lanes and Indian villages 
with their plazas ablaze with flowers. 

Xochimilco itself was somewhat of a dis¬ 
appointment. At first sight it presented the ap¬ 
pearance of a picnic ground. Bands were playing. 
Boys and girls were shouting and laughing. Gay 
parties, in boats and on land, were eating picnic 
lunches quite as they did in the amusement parks 
back home. Indians from all the hill villages had 
gathered to market their pottery, textiles, straw 
hats, and other products. 

“The gardens don’t seem to be floating,” Peter 
complained. 



THE FLOATING GARDENS 


53 



Ewing Galloway 

STRAW HATS FOR SALE! 

I notice/^ Uncle Lee^s bright eyes twinkled. 
‘^Back in the Aztec days they actually did float. 
Now they seem to be living on their reputation. 
The original idea was unique, anyway.’’ 

‘What made them stop floating?” Nancy in¬ 
quired. 

“And what made them float in the first place, 
since they aren’t floating now?” Peter added. 

“The Aztecs,” Uncle Lee hastened to explain, 
“plaited sticks and vines, and on the resulting 
rafts they spread a thick layer of rich dirt. In 
this dirt they planted vegetables and flowers. 





54 


PETEK AND NANCY IN MEXICO 



James Sawders 

A FLOWER SELLER ON THE CANAL 

Such a garden could be poled anywhere the gar¬ 
dener chose to take it. But as the years passed, 
poles which had been stuck down to anchor a gar¬ 
den often took root. Other roots helped to fasten 
the garden to a permanent place. Even now you 
can see that there are water lanes between the 
various gardens. We’ll hire a boat and make a 
little excursion among the flowers.” 

It was a very simple matter to hire a chalupa, 
or flat-bottomed boat with a gay awning, color¬ 
ful cushions, and fragrant floral decorations. 





THE FLOATING GARDENS 


55 


While the MacLarens lolled at their ease, a smil¬ 
ing Mexican boy stood up and poled the boat 
along, much after the manner of a gondolier in 
Venice. 

When they were actually among the floating 
gardens, Peter and Nancy felt the charm of 
their ancient surroundings. The boat moved 
between great beds of lilies and roses. Poppies 
bloomed in scarlet profusion. Marigolds gleamed 
in the sunlight. Sometimes the shade of ahue- 
huete trees fell across the watery path. The 
fragrance of giant sweet peas mingled with 
the spiciness of nasturtiums. 

The vegetable gardens were almost as colorful 
and attractive as the flower gardens, and Peter 
decided that the tall corn compared favorably 
with the corn of Iowa. String music came from 
one of the boats. Songs drifted out in rich tones. 

On some of the boats there was a restaurant 
service. Picnickers who had not brought lunches 
with them could purchase enchiladas, chili con 
came, tortillas, fried beans, and aguamiel. Peter 
and Nancy were content, for the time being, with 
some fruit the boatman offered them. 

He was a most agreeable man. When he 
learned that his passengers were Americans, he 
pointed out the ancient Viga Canal which, he 
explained, ran from Xochimilco into the city. 
Along this water highway Indians hauled fruit, 
flowers, vegetables, and fowl to the city markets. 

It was late afternoon before Peter and Nancy 



56 


PETER AND NANCY IN MEXICO 



James Sawders 


A VEGETABLE GARDEN IN XOCHIMILCO 

could be persuaded to leave the luxury of their 
flat-bottomed boat with its soft cushions. The 
taxi driver who had brought them along the flf- 
teen-mile drive through the Indian villages lay 
under an ahuehuete tree, his sombrero over his 
face. He rose and stretched when Uncle Lee 
nudged him, and a smile lighted up his dark, 
friendly features. 

“Grasshopper Hill!” Uncle Lee instructed him. 
Then to Peter and Nancy he explained that 
Grasshopper Hill, or the forest of Chapultepec 





THE FLOATING GARDENS 


57 


as it is called by the Mexicans today, was one 
of the beauty spots of Mexico City/’ 

''It can’t be any more beautiful than Xochi- 
milco,” Nancy decided. "Grasshopper Hill doesn’t 
sound particularly inviting.” 

"It may be interesting,” Peter conceded. "It’s 
where one of the presidential palaces stands, 
isn’t it. Uncle Lee?” 

"Buildings!” scoffed Nancy. "After seeing the 
big cathedral, any other building would dis¬ 
appoint a traveler.” 

The long, pleasant drive brought the Mac- 
Larens to a stately park with noble old trees sur¬ 
rounding an imposing castle. The trees were 
so immense that they made both Peter and Nancy 
pause in awe. Even before Uncle Lee told them, 
they realized that those trees were probably the 
only living things that had seen Montezuma in 
all his glory. 

"Five, probably six hundred years old!” Uncle 
Lee said as Peter and Nancy got out of the taxi 
and went to sit on one of the gnarled roots. 

"What kind of trees are they?” Nancy asked, 
gazing about at the noble sentinels of Chapulin. 
"They look like a kind of evergreen.” 

"They are giant cypresses,” Uncle Lee 
answered. "You saw some of the smaller speci¬ 
mens in the Floating Gardens.” 

Peter and Nancy now observed that the giant 
trees surrounded the hill on which stood the Cas¬ 
tle of Chapultepec. It was there. Uncle Lee said. 



58 


PETER AND NANCY IN MEXICO 



James Sawders 

CHAPULTEPEC CASTLE 

that Montezuma had a summer palace. The 
present building, standing high on the hill as 
though to catch the sunlight, had, he said, a 
tragic history. 

^Who built it?’’ Peter inquired. ‘T hope it 
stands forever.’^ 

^Tt was started in 1783 by the Viceroy Galvez,’’ 
Uncle Lee answered. ^‘He did not finish it. In 
1842 it was used as a military academy, and in 
1847 its forty students helped to defend it against 
the Americans in the battle of Chapultepec. The 
lovely Empress Carlotta and the Emperor Maxi¬ 
milian occupied the castle in 1866. It was then 
the empress beautified the grounds and terraces, 
and rebuilt it along palatial lines. President Diaz 




PauVs Photos 


THE FOUNTAIN OF DON QUIXOTE 







60 


PETER AND NANCY IN MEXICO 


restored it and lived in it for many years. It 
still is a presidential retreat. Many a troubled 
ruler has looked down from its lofty towers on 
the city with its guardian mountains.’^ 

^‘President Cardenas does not use it, though,’’ 
said Nancy. ''Eemember, Peter, when we read 
about that?” 

^^Yes,” answered Peter, ‘^and it also stated that 
his is the only train in Mexico that does not carry 
a guard.” 

As they walked on. Uncle Lee told them that 
President Cardenas spends much of his time, not 
in Mexico City, but in the country. There are 
found Mexico’s biggest problems. 

Uncle Lee explained that President Cardenas 
was responsible for giving the peons land of their 
own and making them free. The Indians tell 
him at great length about their needs, their 
hopes, and their troubles. 

Uncle Lee seemed to be leading the way 
through the woods without any attention to di¬ 
rection, but suddenly Peter exclaimed, ^^Look! 
There’s the Quixote Fountain! Come, Nancy!” 

He seized his sister’s hand and ran with her 
to the lovely fountain with its famous pedestals. 

‘Teter! You’d never believe it unless you saw 
it!” Nancy was thrilled. ‘There are bookcases 
in the pedestals, shelves with real books in them.” 

“Sure enough!” Peter exulted. “Plato and 
Homer and Goethe and other famous writers! 
What a grand place to read!” 



THE FLOATING GARDENS 


61 


Peter discovered many old people and young 
people, too, reading quietly in the woods all about 
the place. 

^‘I’d like to sit on this bench near the fountain 
and read Cervantes’ Don Quixote —in English, 
of course. I can’t read Spanish,” Peter said 
wistfully. 

^^The next best thing will be to carry a mind 
picture home,” Nancy decided. ^Teter, let’s 
read Don Quixote together next summer, and 
let’s pretend we’re reading it on Grasshopper 
Hill.” 

'^All right,” Peter agreed. ^‘Only it will be 
very hard imagining trees as big as these.” 



THE INDIAN FESTIVAL 


P ETER and Nancy had become quite used to 
Mexico City routine. They knew that the 
stores were open from eight to one and from three 
to seven. During the two hours of “nooning” 
every one went home to lunch and to enjoy a siesta, 
or afternoon nap. Then the town was alniost dead. 
Later, traffic would come to life again; and 
since the traffic rules were neither strict nor 
well defined, it was necessary for pedestrians 
to scramble across the streets as best they could. 

At first the stores confused the MacLarens. 
The names were never indicative of what the 
stores sold, nor did they indicate the ownership. 
“The Eden of the Poor Man” might give a pleas¬ 
ant mind picture, but it was not informative. 
Peter and Nancy had to look in the windows or 
peek into the stores to learn what was being 
offered for sale. If Uncle Lee wished to know 
the name of the dealer, he had to ask a clerk. 
The clerks invariably smoked the strong native 
cigarettes or cigars. In fact, nearly everybody 
except some of the women shoppers smoked in 
the stores. 

The street names were quite as unusual as the 
store names. They were chosen to honor some 
special holiday or some hero or a saint. 

Peter and Nancy became familiar with the 


62 


THE INDIAN FESTIVAL 


63 



Ewing Galloway 

AN AZTEC IN ANCIENT COSTUME 

flat, three-cornered faces, typical of Indians of 
pure Aztec blood. They learned to recognize the 
Spanish aristocracy, too, for the aristocrats often 
had brown hair, blue eyes, and delicate features. 





64 


PETER AND NANCY IN MEXICO 



James Sawders 

THE CARVED WALLS OF THE SECOND OLDEST 
BUILDING IN THE NEW WORLD 

The typical Mexican, a mixture of Aztec and 
Spanish, had black, straight hair, dark eyes, and 
warm brown skin. 

One morning Uncle Lee took Peter and Nancy 
out to Valbuena Field to meet friends who were 
coming in on a passenger plane from El Paso. 
Except for the Spanish spoken, the field was like 
an American field. It was modern in every way. 

Peter and Nancy were always conscious that 
they were in a country much more ancient than 
their own. Here in Mexico City America’s first 




THE INDIAN FESTIVAL 


65 


sheet music and first book were published. Here 
the first money was coined. Here the first news¬ 
paper was printed in 1693. Appropriately it 
was called the 'Tlying Mercury.’’ On this an¬ 
cient ground Cortez built the first sugar mill 
and introduced domestic animals and farming 
methods to the Aztecs. 

Out of the passenger plane from El Paso stepped 
Uncle Lee’s best friends, Doctor Caine and his 
wife. From the Caines, Peter and Nancy were 
to learn much about the University. Already 
Uncle Lee was talking about art and literature 
and political problems with his friends. It seemed 
that the doctor had come to Mexico City to do 
some research work. From what he said, Peter 
and Nancy learned that the University classes 
were held in gorgeous palaces, in convents, and 
in museums. 

The children were told that the University 
was founded in 1551 as 'The Royal and Pontif¬ 
ical University of Mexico.” By 1775 it had 
already awarded about a thousand doctors’ de¬ 
grees and about twenty-six thousand bachelors’ 
degrees. It was closed near the middle of the 
nineteenth century, but reopened sixty years later 
as the National University of Mexico. 

When Peter informed Doctor Caine that he 
thought he would work his way through the 
University of Mexico, Doctor Caine chuckled. 
That sort of thing just wasn’t done. Although 
not an expensive university, Mexico had tradi- 



66 


PETER AND NANCY IN MEXICO 


tions to preserve. It was presumed that most 
of the students were aristocrats. The summer 
sessions, which many students from the United 
States attended, were important in more ways 
than one. Students learned their Spanish ac¬ 
curately, Doctor Caine maintained. They learned 
also to appreciate Mexico’s problems. But most 
important of all, contact with Mexican students 
cemented a fine understanding and an affectionate 
regard between Mexican and American. 

Doctor Caine said that he planned to spend the 
afternoon visiting a Mexican friend who lived a 
few miles out of the city. He invited Peter and 
Nancy to ride along, and they were delighted to 
accept his invitation. Doctor Caine’s friend had 
three small boys who were playing in the yard 
with their pet burro when the visitors arrived. 
Peter and Nancy had such a good time that the 
afternoon passed quickly, and it was soon time to 
return to Mexico City. 

^^Come to Minnesota and visit our home some 
time. We’ll let you play with our pony,” called 
Peter as they waved good-by to the three boys 
and rode away. 

The next day Doctor Caine escorted Peter and 
Nancy through the Dominican Monastery and 
the convent of Churubusco to impress them with 
the beauty and age of their chapels. He spoke 
of the ruins of deserted cities whose inhabitants 
had lived before the Aztecs. He took them to 
the National Museum to see the Calendar Stone, 



THE INDIAN FESTIVAL 


67 



James Sawders 


THE THREE BOYS WITH THEIR PET BURRO 

or Stone of the Sun, which had been part of the 
great Aztec temple. He pointed out the strange 
astronomical and chronological signs carved in 
the great stone. Peter and Nancy tried to look 
wise as Doctor Caine explained just how the 
Aztecs used the Calendar Stone as a sun dial and 
calendar. 

They saw many images of Aztec gods, and 
great stones on which human beings were sacri¬ 
ficed to those gods. One of the best known was 
one in the shape of a reclining tiger. 

That evening in the hotel Uncle Lee said, “I 





68 


PETEK AND NANCY IN MEXICO 



Hugo Bremhe 

IN THE NATIONAL MUSEUM 

think Doctor Caine has taken great pains with 
you two youngsters the last few days in showing 
you the city.” 

“It^s been fun,” Nancy cried. “Fve loved it out 
of doors. But it’s always so cool in the evenings. 
Don’t you think it’s rather chilly in our rooms, 
Uncle Lee?” 

‘They don’t seem to believe much in furnaces,” 
Peter remarked. “All the buildings are cold.” 

Then Uncle Lee made an announcement that 
set his charges to shouting with excitement. The 



THE INDIAN FESTIVAL 


69 


Caines had taken a house, and the MacLarens 
were invited to be their house guests. 

^^We’ll see a real Mexican house!” Nancy 
exulted. ^‘Oh, Peter, we’ll see how Mexican 
houses look on the inside.” 

The house to which the MacLarens drove was 
two stories high and made of colored tile instead 
of the usual adobe brick. A smiling man ser¬ 
vant came to admit the MacLarens. 

‘^He is called a mozo, or man of all work,” 
Uncle Lee told Nancy. ‘^He opens the door. 
He guards the house. Also, he acts as janitor. 
Servants are not such a luxury here as they are 
back home. Even a person of moderate means 
must have a mozo, a cook, and a laundress. 

^^Notice this big heavy door,” he added. ^^Some 
of the old Spanish keys were so heavy that a man 
could not easily carry them with him. Probably 
that fact led to having servants sleep inside the 
door to let the family in. 

^The servants live on the first floor,” Uncle Lee 
explained as the mozo led them over the brick 
floor in the half-open walk around the patio. 

The patio was like a garden space, with com¬ 
fortable chairs and a bubbling fountain. 

^The patio,” Uncle Lee said, ‘fls really a day¬ 
time living room. Notice how thick the walls of 
the house are, three or four feet, I’d say. Every¬ 
thing is very substantial. You’ll find no wall¬ 
paper on the inside any were, just paint or calci¬ 
mine.” 



70 


PETER AND NANCY IN MEXICO 


The mozo now led the way to the balcony that 
overlooked the flowery patio, and the MacLarens 
climbed the stairs. Off this balcony were the 
rooms in which the Caines lived. Mrs. Caine 
was there in a high-ceilinged living room to wel¬ 
come her guests. She served tea while they 
waited for the doctor to return from the Thieves’ 
Market. 

Peter asked, ''What can the doctor be doing 
in a place with a name like that?” 

"He’ll tell you about it when he returns,” Mrs. 
Caine answered mysteriously. 

"And probably he will take you there to visit 
tomorrow,” Uncle Lee guessed. 

The MacLarens found the high-ceilinged rooms 
delightful. On the brick floors were worn rugs, 
and in the middle of the living room was a small 
heater. The pipe ran out the window, for there 
were no chimneys. 

"I was determined to be comfortable,” Mrs. 
Caine conflded. "Hence the stove! We certainly 
need it in the evenings.” 

After tea she led Peter and Nancy up to the 
roof. There were quite as many flowers on the 
roof as in the patio below. The chairs and cush¬ 
ions were colorful as well as comfortable. 

"Moorish architecture,” she explained. "The 
Moors of sunny Africa introduced this flat-roof 
style to Spain, and the Spaniards brought it to 
Mexico.” 

She explained that the thick roof was heat- 



THE INDIAN FESTIVAL 


71 


proof, and that its flat brick-paved surface made 
it a most satisfactory place to sit in the evening, 
especially on warm summer nights. Laugh¬ 
ingly Mrs. Caine pointed out the fact that the 
neighbors could come to see her by stepping 
from their roofs to hers. 

“What happens when it rains?” Nancy asked 
practically. 

“We take in the cushions and let the water 
drain off through the tiles that project beyond the 
walls,” Mrs. Caine answered. “Of course, if 
you are a pedestrian you have to be careful. Pass¬ 
ing my house, you might get a good drenching.” 

Nancy was permitted to peek into the kitchen 
where a Mexican woman was busy preparing 
a meal over an old-fashioned stove with char¬ 
coal burners. The kitchen was dark and in¬ 
convenient, but the cook seemed satisfied. 

Doctor Caine had come home and was talking 
to Uncle Lee in the living room. 

“They say,” Doctor Caine said distinctly, “that 
whenever you miss anything, if you will go to an 
out-of-the-way open market and look for it, you 
will find it. I missed part of my stovepipe, but 
I found it. At least it looks like the same pipe.” 

“I wish Nancy and I could see the Thieves’ 
Market,” Peter sighed. 

No sooner was the hint given than the request 
became a reality. Doctor Caine and Uncle Lee 
took Peter and Nancy to what appeared to be a 
jumble of shed roofs, and there they found the 



72 


PETER AND NANCY IN MEXICO 



James Sawders 

THE MEDICINE MAN AND HIS SNAKE 

oddest assortment of wares. Most of it was junk. 
It was so hot and stuffy and odorous under the 
sheds that they were glad to get out into the 
sunlit street. 

Walking a few blocks, they came upon a crowd 
of people gathered around a medicine man and 
his snake. Peter insisted on watching them 
awhile. 

As a climax to the day’s adventures Doctor 
Caine stopped at the Monte de Piedad, an official 
pawnshop. 




THE INDIAN FESTIVAL 


73 


It was founded, the children learned, by a 
Mexican muleteer who had grown rich from a 
silver mine. Once he had been very poor. In 
gratitude for his own good fortune he provided 
a place where needy persons could secure loans 
without paying much interest. 

^This pawnshop works like a bank,” Doctor 
Caine explained. ‘‘On pledged articles one may 
raise any amount. It may be a few pesos. It may 
be thousands of dollars. And one may patron¬ 
ize this pawnshop without loss of dignity.” 

Peter and Nancy were amazed to learn that 
the pawnshop was once a part of the Cortez 
Palace. It was of elegant colonial style with 
fine patios. After all Doctor Caine had told 
them, they were not surprised to see a shabby 
Indian with a blanket over his arm rubbing 
elbows with a man who was offering jewels as 
collateral. 

The next morning the doctor announced that 
he and Mrs. Caine had decided to go with the 
MacLarens to see the Otomi Indians perform 
their age-old rite of fiying from a pole at the 
Corpus Christi festival at Pahuatlan. 

When they left the train at Honey, an Indian 
guide was waiting with horses. As Peter tried 
to adjust the long stirrups, Nancy remarked that 
they looked like huge wooden shoes. 

After a short climb through dense pine for¬ 
ests the trail suddenly turned downward. Doc¬ 
tor Caine said the cornfields looked as though 



74 


PETER AND NANCY IN MEXICO 


they were glued onto the almost perpendicular 
slopes; and the Indian villages certainly looked 
like huge nests among the trees. 

“See those little gray huts! Their thatched 
roofs almost touch the ground I” Peter called out. 

“And see those women pounding clothes on the 
flat rocks,” Nancy added. 

Many Indians with large packs supported on 
their backs by a woven palm-leaf band across 
their foreheads called out “Adios,” as the Mac- 
Laren party passed them on the steep grade. 

Once they met a pack of muleteers lumbering 
along with freight from Pahuatlan. Mrs. Caine 
was beginning to wish that she had stayed in 
Mexico City when suddenly the orchards and 
red-tiled roofs of Pahuatlan appeared. 

The hotel opened onto a patio. Drying skins of 
pigs, which the Indians used for carrying pulque, 
made it smell a bit sour. Some Indian children 
were dancing on the narrow cobbled streets to 
the tune of a radio. 

Although the MacLaren party was up at day¬ 
break the market was crowded with Indians. The 
women wore richly embroidered shoulder capes, 
in patterns typical of each village; their cotton 
skirts were drawn tightly around their hips but 
hung full in front; their black hair was braided 
and decorated with brightly colored beads. 

On the small plaza a straight pole, almost 
seventy feet high, rose from a narrow hole which 
had been partially filled with offerings such as 



THE INDIAN FESTIVAL 


75 


live fowls, chocolate, cigarettes, corn, fruit, and 
many other things. 

Three Indians carrying long ropes and a log of 
wood hollowed out and smeared with grease on 
the inside, climbed the pole by means of a thick 
vine which had been wound about it. 

Carefully they placed the hollowed stump on 
top of the pole, like a cap, but left it free to 
revolve. Below the cap the ropes were carefully 
wound round and round the pole. A frame made 
of six sticks was hung just below the cap; then 
the long ropes which the Indians had wound 
around the pole were thrown over the frame with 
the ends dangling in the air. 

Soon the voladores, or flyers, gaily dressed to 
represent birds, entered the plaza. One of the 
six, the Malinche, or man dressed as a woman, 
had long skirts fluttering in the breeze. One by 
one they climbed to the top of the pole. They 
looked like tiny dolls in the air; then one stepped 
up onto the top of the hollowed stump and com¬ 
menced to dance. The other flve, stationed on 
points of the platform, played rattles, flutes, and 
a drum. 

Faster and faster the dancer moved to the 
rhythm, although one misstep meant death. Each 
volador danced about ten minutes. 

The Malinche made every one gasp with fear 
as he leaned down and enfolded each of the others 
with a large colored square of cloth held with 
both hands. 



76 


PETER AND NANCY IN MEXICO 



Acme 


THE FLYING POLE DANCE 

After all six had danced and were in their 
places on the frame, they tied the ends of the 
ropes around their ankles and with a wild cry 
jumped into space. Down they came, gathering 
speed as the rope around the pole unwound. 






THE INDIAN FESTIVAL 


77 


Round and round the pole they flew, as the 
music changed to a livelier rhythm. 

On the crowded plaza below, throughout the 
dance, the Indians waited in silence. With a tu¬ 
mult of rejoicing they crowded about the vola- 
dores when the latter safely reached the ground. 

Back in Mexico City, Doctor Caine told Peter 
and Nancy that few were privileged to see the 
old rite of the flying pole and he feared before 
many years had passed it would be a lost art. 

Peter and Nancy were certainly finding Mex¬ 
ico an amazing place. 



CLIMBING AN EASY MOUNTAIN 


P ETER stared longingly at the snowy peaks 
of Popocatepetl, the Smoky Mountain, and 
Ixtacihuatl, the Sleeping White Woman, from 
the Caine porch. 

''We're climbing Popo tomorrow,” he exulted. 
"You mean we're starting tomorrow,'' Nancy 
amended. "Mrs. Caine says it's a good three 
days' work, even though Popo has the reputation 
of being an easy mountain to climb. We'll need 
the same equipment we used in climbing the 
Alps.'' 

"Oh, it's much easier to climb than the Alps,'' 
Peter decided. "You can tell that by looking at 
it. The time's coming when we shall be able to 
make the trip in Uncle Lee's car.'' 

Uncle Lee made an odd grimace. 

"I should not be surprised,'' he agreed, "if 
some day the road should lead to the top. The 
mountain belongs to a Mexican general, and he 
has offered it for sale. If some American conces¬ 
sion should buy it, you will see sulphur, ice, and 
amusements offered at popular prices. However, 
that would spoil the romance. 

"According to an ancient story Popocatepetl 
was a god and Ixtacihuatl a maiden. The two 
fell in love. But Ixtacihuatl's father had offered 
his daughter in marriage to any brave who 


78 


CLIMBING AN EASY MOUNTAIN 


79 


would conquer his enemies for him. Popocate¬ 
petl was about to return triumphant to claim the 
reward when his rivals sent back false news of 
his death. The princess then became the victim 
of a strange illness. Neither witch doctors nor 
priests were able to cure her. She languished 
and died. Popocatepetl’s grief was so great that 
he constructed a great pyramid upon which he 
laid his beloved Ixtacihuatl, and next to it an¬ 
other, where he himself stands holding a funeral 
torch to illuminate her eternal sleep.” 

“Yes,” said Nancy, “you can see her any day, 
if you have any imagination, Peter, lying there 
with her head on her arm as though she were 
sleeping.” 

“You have enough imagination for us both,” 
Peter declared. “I wonder,” he continued, “what 
those two mountains look like on the other side.” 

“They don’t resemble a god and a maiden,” 
Uncle Lee said dryly. 

Next morning Uncle Lee drove his car to Ame- 
cameca as a starting point. It was a little town, 
and it lay at the base of a steep hill called the 
Sacro Monte. Peter and Nancy would have liked 
to climb the sacred mountain, too, following the 
trail of the old trees that were hung with Span¬ 
ish moss. They knew they would find the four¬ 
teen Stations of the Cross. Uncle Lee said the 
legend of each station was beautifully written in 
quaint old Spanish on Puebla tiles. 

“There is an old church up there, too,” Uncle 



80 


PETER AND NANCY IN MEXICO 



James Sawders 


THE PEAK OF IXTACIHUATL 

Lee continued, “from which can be seen the finest 
view in the country of Smoking Mountain and 
the Sleeping White Woman. But here is our 
guide, who is also our mozo. His wife is going 
along to keep Nancy company and take care of 
her.” 

The two stolid Mexicans, laden with supplies, 
smiled at the children. Uncle Lee insisted on 
carrying part of the food supplies in his pack- 
sack. 

“Can’t we leave that shovel at home?” he 





CLIMBING AN EASY MOUNTAIN 


81 


demanded, seeing how awkwardly the mozo was 
adjusting it over his back. 

‘^Leave shovel? Maybe not get home,” the 
mozo retorted. 

Peter and Nancy carried their woolen socks, 
sweaters, and winter coats in packsacks fastened 
comfortably over their shoulders with straps so 
that their arms would be free to use their alpen¬ 
stocks. Nor would the mozo start until the three 
MacLarens had been equipped with spikes 
strapped to their boots. 

The start was easy, but soon the party reached 
a stretch of soft sand. At first Peter and Nancy 
laughed because it was fun to watch their boots 
sink in. Soon, however, the going became a real 
task, and the children were glad when, looking 
up, they saw a woodland ahead. 

The woodland was delightful, the air fresh, 
and the sky blue. On the ground were pine cones 
a foot long. It was in this wood that they stopped 
to eat some sandwiches and drink some bottled 
orange juice. It was high noon, and they had 
been climbing since early morning. 

They passed out of the wood and saw open land 
with a wheat field on the side of the mountain. 

‘^Ripe wheat so early!” Peter cried. ^^Back 
home blizzards are roaring over our wheat fields.” 

A pine forest through which they went began 
to thin. The sun was going down. The valleys 
below were almost black, but the snowy summits 
of the mountains glowed brightly. 



82 


PETER AND NANCY IN MEXICO 


'^Make camp/^ the mozo decided. 

He made a shelter of boughs and built a small 
fire. His wife began to pat some prepared tor¬ 
tilla dough into cakes and to heat some chili. 
Uncle Lee insisted that some of Mrs. Caine’s good 
sandwiches be added to the meal. 

Without being urged to do so, Peter and Nancy 
began to pull on their woolen socks and to add 
sweaters, coats, and caps to their hiking outfits. 
They ate with cold hands, glad for the warm 
food and the warm dishes. 

thought there was a stone hut or something 
around here,” Uncle Lee said. 

“For tourists,” the mozo acknowledged. 

“Well, I’d rather be called a tourist than freeze 
to death,” Uncle Lee declared. “Besides, I’m 
responsible for the health of my niece and my 
nephew.” 

Peter and Nancy faced Uncle Lee with quiet 
determination. They did want the experience 
of camping out on Mount Popo. 

Almost they were to regret it. The fire, as 
night descended, seemed like such a meager little 
fire, and the wind that swept down from the snow 
fields was bitter cold. Nancy snuggled closer 
and closer to the mozo’s wife who shared a thick 
wool serape with her. 

After a hot breakfast the five adventurers con¬ 
tinued their journey without taking off one layer 
of the extra clothing in which they had slept. 

“Much more pleasant to carry it on us than in 



CLIMBING AN EASY MOUNTAIN 


83 


a packsack/’ Peter decided, his teeth chattering. 

It was good to climb again. The exercise sent 
warmth all through one’s body. But it was not 
easy. Peter and Nancy had a hard time keep¬ 
ing their footing in the tall, slippery brown 
grass. They were breathing with difficulty when 
they finally came to a trough hollowed out of a 
tree. The trough was full of icy water from one 
of the many streams that flowed down the moun¬ 
tainside from the snow fields. 

The cold wind was even more piercing now, 
and there was a constant mournful wail. No one 
talked at all. Putting one foot ahead of the 
other required all the energy that the climbers 
possessed. Up and up and up they trudged. 

Now the trees were left behind, the friendly 
trees. Side by side Peter and Nancy plodded 
through the loose lava. Their feet sank in with 
each step, and wearily they drew them out, one 
after the other. Whenever they looked up at the 
gleaming mountaintop they took heart. It seemed 
so close. 

Lava and ice particles began to whip down into 
their faces. The only shelter was a group of 
huge rocks ahead. It grew colder and colder. 
And then Uncle Lee shouted that there was a 
hut close by. 

It was a very crude hut, high up on that bleak 
mountain side, but to the MacLarens it seemed 
most welcome. In the tiny room was a small 
charcoal stove on which to cook supper. There 



84 


PETER AND NANCY IN MEXICO 


were crude bunks with coarse worn blankets at 
one side. There was a table. The wind howled 
all about the shelter, but it couldn't get in. Here 
was contentment and rest and peace. 

‘‘Well," asked Uncle Lee, “does the climb end 
here?" 

Brother and sister glanced at each other. To¬ 
gether they had shared many adventures. Nancy 
shook her head at Peter. 

“All we need," said Peter, “is some supper and 
then some sleep. We'll finish the climb in the 
morning." 

The first field of lava over which the party 
passed at dawn of the following day was soft. 
The going was laborious, but it was not danger¬ 
ous. Frozen lava farther up presented a differ¬ 
ent problem. It was slippery and hard. 

Nancy's cheeks were fiery red, and she was 
gasping for breath in the thin air. 

“Peter," she begged, “let's go a little slower." 

“I'll help you," Peter offered. 

As he attempted to reach out for his sister, his 
foot slipped. All of a sudden he was sliding down 
the slope at a mad speed. The mozo, far below, 
had stuck his pick into the frozen lava. Evidently 
he was not unused to such happenings. He 
reached out for Peter, caught him, and held 
him until he could get a foothold. 

Uncle Lee praised the presence of mind of 
both geographers. Peter had not grabbed at 
Nancy when he felt himself slipping. And Nancy, 



CLIMBING AN EASY MOUNTAIN 


85 



James Sawders 


THE LAST STRETCH OF THE CLIMB 


although terribly frightened, had not looked 
about and lost her own foothold. 

The frozen lava gave way to snow fields. 
Whenever Nancy’s courage lagged, she raised 
her eyes to the snow fields ahead. Surely, she 
reasoned, snow would be much easier to walk on 
than the frozen lava. It looked so soft and clean. 

The mozo was organizing the party for the last 
stretch of the climb. He was to lead the way, 
Peter to follow him. The mozo’s sturdy wife 
took her place behind Peter. Nancy was sand- 






86 


PETER AND NANCY IN MEXICO 


wiched in between her and Uncle Lee, the safest 
place. Uncle Lee gave dark glasses to them all. 
Why all this preparation when the snow field was 
so close at hand? 

Nancy soon discovered the cause of all the pre¬ 
cautions. The wind had long since blown away 
any soft snow flakes that might have clung to the 
mountain side. The snow was not soft. It had 
formed a hard, slippery crust. 

The shovel played a very important part in the 
ascent. With an ice pick the mozo cut away the 
surface hardness, and with his shovel he made a 
stairway in the snow so that the little party might 
climb up more easily. Clouds swirled below. One 
foot before the other, eyes constantly on the trail, 
the little party climbed. 

At last the mozo gave a shout. Peter and 
Nancy, who thought it was only a rest signal, 
lay flat on their stomachs, exhausted and hav¬ 
ing difficulty with their breathing. There was 
a deep silence. In that deep silence Uncle Lee 
chuckled. 

“Don’t you want to see it?” he inquired. 

Peter and Nancy sat bolt upright. They were 
resting on the edge of Popo’s crater. They stared 
at walls of black obsidian, the hard flint from 
which the Aztecs made their knives and arrow¬ 
heads. Far, far down were acres of yellow sul¬ 
phur, and vapors rose from crevices and cracks 
in the crater’s floor. 

Dizzily they got to their feet and looked down 



CLIMBING AN EASY MOUNTAIN 


87 


into the valley. There lay Mexico City, with its 
blue lakes, like a city in a fairy tale. Weariness 
dropped away. The never-to-be-forgotten pic¬ 
ture was worth the climb. 

Part of the going down was sheer, rowdy fun. 
The mozo and his wife unwrapped the straw mats 
they had been carrying. Peter sat down on one 
mat with the mozo, and down they slid on a path 
that showed signs of having been used. The 
mozo used his staff as a brake. 

“That’s the way sulphur is taken down,” Uncle 
Lee explained to Nancy. 

He, Nancy, and the mozo’s wife seated them¬ 
selves on the second mat. Both Uncle Lee and 
the Mexican woman used their staves as brakes. 
Dodging rocks and crevices, they slid farther in 
two minutes than they had climbed in an hour. 

It was good to be back to the forest line again, 
to the friendly trees. 

When at last the little party sat before a hot 
supper in the comfortable hotel in Amecameca, 
every one sighed in happy contentment. 

Suddenly Nancy giggled. 

“Remember, Peter,” she asked, “what a hard 
time we had in the sixth grade learning to pro¬ 
nounce Popocatepetl?” 

“But a worse time to spell it,” Peter agreed. 
“It was almost as hard to spell it then as it is to 
climb it now. Whoever said Popo was an easy 
mountain to climb?” 

“You did, for one,” Nancy reminded him. 



A PILGRIMAGE 


P ETER and Nancy, back in Mexico City, being 
treated for wind burn and sore muscles, were 
quite content to view Popocatepetl and Ixtaci- 
huatl from the Caine roof. It was pleasant to 
review their experiences before so appreciative 
an audience as the Caines. They had not realized 
how many churches there were in the Anahuac 
Valley until they looked down upon the city from 
the top of Popo. Actually the capital had seemed 
to be built of towers and domes. 

“One thing, we’ve seen the most famous church 
in Mexico,” Peter remarked, “the great cathe¬ 
dral in the Zocalo.” 

“It’s the biggest, the most impressive, and per¬ 
haps the most historic,” Doctor Caine conceded, 
“but it isn’t the most famous. Surely you’ve 
heard of Guadalupe.” 

“Yes, we have,” Nancy answered. “Uncle Lee 
says we’re to see it if we have time.” 

“Well, you’d better take time,” Doctor Caine 
advised. “You’ll hear it said a good many times, 
and it’s true, that Guadalupe is to the Mexicans 
what Benares is to the Hindus, Mecca to the 
Mohammedans, and Jerusalem to the Jews and 
Christians.” 

“I wish that you had been here on the twelfth 
of December,” Mrs. Caine put in. “That is the 


A PILGRIMAGE 


89 



Ewing Galloway 

MAKING TORTILLAS 


national religious holiday in Mexico. The faith¬ 
ful flock to the sanctuary of Guadalupe by the 
thousand, rich and poor alike. You should see 
them. They come from all over Mexico, bringing 
their babies, their blankets, and their cooking 
utensils. They prepare their chili stews and 
tamales over charcoal fires, squatting in alleys 
and streets. They patronize the refreshment 
stands where tortillas and other Mexican foods 
are served. They laugh, talk, visit, and attend 
mass as they celebrate in the highest of spirits.” 

Mrs. Caine then went on to tell of the venders. 



90 


PETER AND NANCY IN MEXICO 


who invariably lined the roads, selling everything 
from cheap jewelry, red lemonade, bananas, 
sugar cane, pineapples, and rosaries. The rosa¬ 
ries were usually of glass or carved wood, she 
said, but they might be of silver, or even of the 
fretted gold work that comes from Yucatan. 

^The strangest things are the ‘deer-eyes,^ ’’ 
she continued, ‘^to be hung about the neck as a 
protection against the evil eye, oranges wigged 
with red corn floss as an offering to the local 
Indian goddess, and the carved serpent canes, 
once used in pagan ceremonies. The Mexican, 
along with his modern Christianity, still retains 
much of his ancient Aztec belief.’^ 

Uncle Lee, who had been busy in the living 
room getting off his mail, now appeared on the 
roof. 

‘When are we going to Guadalupe, Uncle 
Lee?^’ Nancy inquired. ‘T think we should make 
it a pilgrimage, don't you?" 

“Yes, indeed," Uncle Lee agreed. “It's only 
three miles or so. We'll start tomorrow morn¬ 
ing after breakfast and walk." 

“It will be lovely to walk," Nancy agreed 
somewhat weakly, and Peter said, “Good idea," 
without much enthusiasm. 

“Stop teasing them," Mrs. Caine commanded. 
“I notice you didn't take a walk yourself this 
morning in this rarifled air." 

The next day Uncle Lee brought his car to the 
door early. As it purred slowly out of the town 



A PILGRIMAGE 


91 


along a road flanked by black and white poplars, 
he asked, “Do you want to hear the story of how 
the famous church came to be built? It’s on the 
hill of Tepeyac, and Juan Diego is the hero.” 

It was most appropriate to hear the story as 
the car passed slowly by the fourteen chapels 
along the route, for each chapel represented one 
station of the Cross. 

Straight ahead loomed the pink cathedral that 
had been built in 1792. Above the cathedral, on 
the high-walled hill, stood a worn, white chapel, 
its towers rising against the turquoise-blue sky. 
The hill had been terraced with the tombs of the 
Tepeyac cemetery. 

High above the white chapel on the hill stood 
three crosses. 

“The chapel is said by critics to be a perfect 
gem of Mexican Mudejar architecture,” said Uncle 
Lee. “Above the entrance are yellow and azure 
tiles of the most enchanting beauty. The deep 
windows are star-shaped. Inside there is a ceil¬ 
ing beautifully decorated with cherubim. The 
altars are green—but here we are.” 

Uncle Lee parked the car behind a refresh¬ 
ment stand. He led the way up the hill through 
a lane of green and pink houses. Together the 
MacLarens joined the pilgrims, climbing the 
stairway cut in solid rock in order to reach the 
church. One very old woman climbed on her 
knees; whether out of piety or because of an in¬ 
firmity, the MacLarens could not tell. 



92 


PETER AND NANCY IN MEXICO 



James Sawders 

THE FLOWER MARKET AT GUADALUPE 

“A stone carving of sails and the mast of a 
vessel used to stand here as a memorial,” Uncle 
Lee told Peter and Nancy. “It was over two cen¬ 
turies old and had been erected as a thank offer¬ 
ing by sailors who, having prayed to the Virgin of 
Guadalupe in a storm, were saved. You’ll see a 
good many thank offerings but none more dig¬ 
nified nor more impressive than the stone sails 
were before an earthquake destroyed them.” 

The MacLarens looked down on the village. All 
the roofs were fiat and many of them cracked and 









A PILGRIMAGE 


93 


eroded. Uncle Lee said that cacti and chayote 
vines ate into such walls. The towers of the 
cathedral below rose in dignity against green 
trees. The streets rayed out from the cathedral 
and then seemed to lead away in all directions. 

Most of the pilgrims ascending the stairs were 
native Mexicans, for the men invariably wore 
sombreros and the women wore rebozos. Some 
stopped to buy flowers at the street stands. 

“There are plenty of thank offerings in here,” 
Uncle Lee observed as they entered the chapel. 

Many pictures lined the walls, pictures of per¬ 
sons being dragged from under trains or auto¬ 
mobiles, persons undergoing surgical operations, 
and others escaping from wild beasts. 

The life-size image of the Virgin glittered with 
jewels and precious stones. They seemed to make 
an aura for her. 

The waters of the magical spring drew every 
pilgrim. Uncle Lee told Nancy that it was said 
if any stranger drinks the water, he would be 
sure to return to Mexico. 

Peter and Nancy had expected a cold spring of 
purest water. They were very much dis¬ 
appointed to find it brackish water that boiled 
and bubbled. It had a very unpleasant odor. The 
copper dippers that were chained to a rail were 
being used by all the pilgrims, sick and well alike. 
Many were filling bottles with the sacred water 
to take it home with them. The stones were 
slippery from the water that had been spilled. 



THE MYSTERIOUS PAST 


T he MacLarens were consulting Doctor and 
Mrs. Caine in the Mexico City house. 

“ ‘The Place of Those Who Have the Gods’ 
lies just thirty miles to the northeast,” Doctor 
Caine informed Uncle Lee. “San Juan Teoti- 
huacan is worth going to see, and you will find 
no better motor highway out of Mexico City.” 

“Is it an Aztec ruin?” Peter inquired. 

“No, it belongs to an earlier civilization than 
the Aztec; that of the Toltecs.” Doctor Caine 
squinted through his thick lenses at Peter. “The 
Toltecs were forerunners of the Aztecs. You 
will have a great time climbing the pyramids.” 

“Pyramids! Sounds like Egjrpt,” Nancy vol¬ 
unteered. “Maybe we’ll see mummies!” 

“The Toltec pyramids were not designed for 
places of burial, Nancy,” Mrs. Caine corrected 
her young guest. “They were really temples. 
The two at San Juan Teotihuacan were dedicated 
to the worship of the sun and the moon.” 

The drive out to Teotihuacan with Uncle Lee 
the following morning was exciting to Peter and 
Nancy, armed as they were with information 
furnished by the Caines. 

As the car sped over the road, Peter observed 
that the Mexican mode of travel was much slower 
than that of the American tourists. 


94 


THE MYSTERIOUS PAST 


95 



Ewing Galloway 

THE WOMEN WALK WHILE THE MEN RIDE 


“And it seems to be customary for the women 
to walk while the men ride the burros,” com¬ 
mented Nancy, as they passed a family traveling 
in that fashion. 

The gay chatter ceased, however, when two 
great hills loomed up on the plain ahead. The 
plain was almost devoid of vegetation. Near by, 
said Uncle Lee, were quarries that had been 
worked since early days. 

The larger of the two great man-made piles 
proved to be the Pyramid of the Sun. It did not 
seem as big to Peter and Nancy as the Cheops 




96 


PETER AND NANCY IN MEXICO 



James Sawders 

THE PYRAMID OF THE SUN 


in Egypt, but Uncle Lee declared that it was 
quite as large though the proportions were dif¬ 
ferent. 

Getting out of the car, the MacLarens examined 
the imposing hill. They saw that it was built in 
five sections, or terraces. Doctor Caine had said 
that it was 216 feet high and 750 feet wide at 
the base. 

“Once,” Uncle Lee explained, “there was a 
temple on the summit and inside it a great statue 
of the sun god. It had been carved from a single 
block of porphyry.” 



THE MYSTERIOUS PAST 


97 


The steps leading up between the cemented 
terraces were badly eroded, but it was still pos¬ 
sible to make the ascent quite comfortably. 
While the MacLarens were climbing, other tour¬ 
ists appeared. Several of the women carried 
sun umbrellas, and Nancy began to wish she 
had brought hers, too. 

From the top of the pyramid the party viewed 
other pyramids and mounds below. They saw 
that an ancient paved road led from the base 
of the Pyramid of the Sun between mounds to 
another pyramid about a half mile away. 

‘The Pyramid of the Moon,^’ Uncle Lee an¬ 
nounced. “And that road is known as the ‘High¬ 
way of the Dead,^ because the mounds that flank 
it are burial mounds.’’ 

The road continued from the Pyramid of the 
Sun to the citadel which must once have been 
the center of the now ruined city. 

Near the citadel the MacLarens saw a pyra¬ 
mid temple of Quetzalcoatl, with its plumed ser¬ 
pent decorations, and another temple of Tlaloc, 
god of rain. There were other small pyramids 
and altars, altars upon which fine young men 
and lovely young girls had been sacrificed to 
these gods of destruction. 

The morning was scarcely gone when the Mac¬ 
Larens returned from San Juan Teotihuacan. 

After lunch Uncle Lee followed a road to the 
southwest, climbing out of the valley into the 
Toluca Mountains. Ten miles from Mexico City 



98 


PETER AND NANCY IN MEXICO 


the road branched off, and soon a little town 
appeared set in groves of great trees. 

“Desierto de los Leones!” Uncle Lee announced. 
“In plain English, ‘Desert of the Lions.’” 

“Where are the lions?” Peter inquired. 

“And where is the desert?” Nancy asked. 

“The name is certainly a misnomer, isn’t it?” 
Uncle Lee chuckled. “There isn’t a desert here, 
and probably no lion. But the Carmelite monks 
who came here in the seventeenth century chose 
the name. It reminded them of the dangers 
suffered by their brother workers in Africa.” 

Leaving the city of lovely parks and drives. 
Uncle Lee followed the road onto the highway 
again. 

“It’s only thirty-five miles to Toluca,” he said. 
“We really should see the capital of the state of 
Mexico.” 

“I thought Mexico City was,” Peter began, 
then caught himself. “I know better. The form 
of their government is much like ours. The Esta- 
dos Unidos Mexicanos means ‘The United States 
of Mexico.’ Long ago. Uncle Lee, you told us that 
there were twenty-eight states in Mexico, two 
territories, and a federal district. Of course, the 
capital is in the federal district, and it is also in 
the state of Mexico.” 

“It seems funny,” Nancy put in, “that the name 
Mexico should be given to a city, a state, and a 
country. Still, New York’s much like that. It’s 
a city, a county, and a state.” 



THE MYSTERIOUS PAST 


99 



James Sawders 


PREPARING FIBER FROM THE MAGUEY PLANT 

Uncle Lee stopped the car so the children could 
see an old woman who was working with a huge 
pile of fibers. 

‘‘I suppose you will be surprised to know that 









100 


PETER AND NANCY IN MEXICO 



Ewing Galloway 


A MEXICAN HACIENDA AND A FIELD OF MAGUEY 

this fiber comes from the maguey plant. Most 
tourists think only of aguamiel or pulque when 
they think of the maguey plant. But the fibers 
of the plant are a very important raw material, 
used in making rope and many of the baskets 
you see in the Mexican markets.” 

think that most of the fiber baskets look 
much better than the aguamiel tastes,” remarked 
Nancy as they climbed back into the car. 

Uncle Lee had remarked, as the car purred 
along the good road, that Toluca was more than 






THE MYSTERIOUS PAST 


101 


8,700 feet above the sea and nine hundred feet 
above Mexico City. Naturally Peter and Nancy 
had expected to see a mountainous little city and 
were amazed to find it located on a wide plain, a 
plain beautifully cultivated. The mountains were 
in the background with snowy summits rising 
against azure blue sky. Spread out on the 
plains were many haciendas, or ranches, the main 
houses often as large and impressive as fortresses. 

In the town itself were several plazas, bright 
with flowers, and the picturesque El Carmen 
church. But it was the market which drew the 
attention of the MacLarens, one of the best in 
Mexico, Uncle Lee declared, at which to buy 
blankets, pottery, toys, embroideries, and baskets. 

A guide offered to take them to a volcano called 
Nevado de Toluca. In the crater, he said, were 
two beautiful lakes. 

“From the summit you may see Popo,” he 
promised. “And on a very clear day you may 
even catch a glimpse of the Pacific Ocean.” 

“Not today,” Uncle Lee decided. “We are 
meeting the Caines for dinner at Sanborn’s, 
located in the House of Tile. It is said to be the 
handsomest manorial house in Mexico.” 

“It certainly has been a day of buildings,” 
Nancy observed in the car on the way back. “Pyra¬ 
mids, monasteries, old churches, and now • • • _” 

“An old restaurant,” Peter supplied. “But it 
has the best food in Mexico, I’ve heard. Let’s 
hurry!” 



THE LAND OF CORN 


T he train sped eastward in a wide curve of 
tracks. For some time Uncle Lee had been 
telling Peter and Nancy about Tlaxcala, one of the 
smallest of the twenty-eight states. It was the 
Tlascalans who had helped Cortez in his conquest 
of Mexico, for the Tlascalan tribe had long been at 
enmity with the Aztecs. In return for their ser¬ 
vices to the Spanish Crown these tribesmen had 
been left in control of their lands. Even today, 
Uncle Lee maintained, there is still an air of in¬ 
dependence about the Tlascalans, not usually 
found among a poor people. 

‘T thought Tlaxcala was the ‘Land of Corn,’ ” 
Nancy said, as the train hummed onward. “That 
seems to imply plenty of everything.” 

“Fll let you judge for yourself,” Uncle Lee 
decided. 

The MacLarens got out at a station where a 
number of station wagons drawn by mules were 
waiting for the passengers. Peter was amazed 
that Tlaxcala, the capital of the state of Tlax¬ 
cala, should be several miles from a railway. 

Near its outskirts the town ran into a dry, 
rolling plain. It looked level enough, but Uncle 
Lee said it was bumpy. Beyond was some farm 
land. Here was corn at last. 

“It seems funny to see it cut and piled in 
102 


THE LAND OF CORN 


103 


heaps instead of being set up in shocks,” Peter 
observed. 

A farmer was plowing one field, getting it 
ready to plant, for the spring comes, as Uncle 
Lee had said, very early on the Mexican plateau. 

“I suppose the paper dolls will soon be at work.” 
said Nancy. 

Mrs. Caine had told them the Indians believed 
that air, fire, earth, rain, and mountains were 
represented by spirits which must be pacified. 
In the spring dolls, with hands raised in prayer, 
were made from tissue paper and colored the 
same as the plants they were to represent. After 
the village brujo, or priest, chanted over the dolls, 
the natives cherished them and took them out to 
the fields as offerings to the spirits. 

There seemed to be a great deal of maguey, 
more maguey than corn, in fact. Both the corn 
and the maguey were very dusty. 

The town itself, with its three thousand in¬ 
habitants, was a lovely, quiet place. On a ter¬ 
raced hill near the main plaza was the Church 
of San Francisco. 

“That church,” Uncle Lee announced, “is the 
oldest church in North America.” 

The hotel was shabby, and the MacLarens had 
to ask for water, soap, and towels. The black- 
eyed Indian girl shook her head over the queer 
request. But the patio was so lovely that Nancy 
forgot her bleak room. There was the spiciness 
of carnations in the air, the brilliance of gera- 



104 


PETER AND NANCY IN MEXICO 


niums, and the richness of bougainvillea climbing 
the old walls. 

- While they lunched on Mexican food in the 
dark little dining room, the MacLarens patron¬ 
ized a vender of flowers who came to their table. 
Evidently that was a mistake. Other venders 
swarmed about the table offering peanuts, vege¬ 
tables, fruits, and even shoeshines. The proprie¬ 
tor finally shooed them away. 

In the afternoon the MacLarens visited the 
Church of San Francisco. Uncle Lee pointed out 
the great stone font where the four Tlascalan 
chiefs had been baptized in the days of Cortez. 
The pulpit, Peter and Nancy learned, was said to 
be the place where the Christian gospel was first 
preached on the American continent. 

The next morning the MacLarens visited the 
market as a matter of course. It was a lively 
market that handled everything from turkeys 
to red and white radishes a foot long. Although 
the country looked very dry, the market fairly 
bulged with potatoes, tomatoes, garlic, peppers, 
peanuts, and popcorn, as well as livestock. Corn 
was only one of the many products. Nancy was 
particularly interested in the serapes one man 
had for sale. 

Peter and Nancy were impressed by the sur¬ 
prising abundance, but, strangely enough, what 
they were to remember most clearly about Tlax- 
cala was the view, a magnificent view of the 
two mountains, Popocatepetl and Ixtacihuatl. 



THE LAND OF CORN 


105 



James Sawders 


A SERAPE SELLER 

Never had the snow seemed whiter, the sky 
bluer, or the sunshine more golden. 

But back on the train the following morning, 
their thoughts flew onward. Uncle Lee had an¬ 
nounced, “We are to visit the ‘City of the Angels’ 
next,” and, to be more explicit, had added, 
“Puebla.” 

Nancy wanted to know why Puebla should be 
called the City of the Angels and learned that 
Puebla was founded in 1532. It had not existed 
when the Spaniards came. According to legend, 







106 


PETER AND NANCY IN MEXICO 


angels appeared to a priest in a dream telling 
him just how to lay out a city in that particular 
location. 

Like Tlaxcala the city was guarded by the 
two volcanic mountains, Popo and The White 
Woman. But from Puebla another mountain 
could also be seen. To the west rose Orizaba, the 
highest peak in all Mexico. 

At first Peter and Nancy had an impression of 
little low houses and church domes, but after 
they had made themselves comfortable at a good 
hotel in Puebla, they set out to explore in earnest. 
Uncle Lee remained behind to attend to his mail. 

Alone they discovered the real beauties of the 
town. It was the City of Tiles, and the MacLaren 
children soon realized that in addition to manu¬ 
facturing soap, paper, glass, flour, and pottery, 
Puebla really was most proud of its tiles and its 
onyx. Many of the domes of the churches glit¬ 
tered with bright colored tiles. 

Peter and Nancy strolled along street after 
street to look at the old houses whose fronts were 
covered with tiles formed into mosaics of birds, 
animals, and even saints. Some houses were a 
creamy white, but the great majority were tinted 
in gay colors. Although the sun shone, the air 
was cool and it was a delight to walk briskly. At 
last they followed a crowd of worshipers into a 
great cathedral. 

^TPs like a gold cathedral!’’ whispered Nancy. 
She glanced up and around. 



THE LAND OF CORN 


107 



THE CATHEDRAL AT PUEBLA 

It was one of the richest and handsomest 
churches the children had seen. Peter stopped 
before the splendid altar made entirely of colored 
Puebla onyx while Nancy gazed and gazed at the 
many beautiful old paintings. Much of the inte¬ 
rior was actually incrusted with gold and that 
vision of the golden interior remained with the 
children long after their visit to Puebla. 

Toward noon they hurried to meet Uncle Lee 
in the principal plaza near a fountain that he had 
designated. Here the colored tiles had been used 










108 


PETER AND NANCY IN MEXICO 


in making the fountain base. Uncle Lee was 
watching the colorful parade of gaily dressed 
people who strolled through the flower garden and 
under the tall trees. 

‘Tuebla, in spite of the legend/^ Uncle Lee 
said, ‘Vas really built by the Spaniards to pro¬ 
tect the route to the sea. It has been the scene 
of much fighting. Wherever you go youfll find 
some tablet or statue commemorating an event in 
Puebla’s historic past. 

“I have rented a car,” he added, rising. 
thought we’d have lunch, and then drive out to 
Cholula.” 

Another shrine?” Nancy inquired. 

^^Yes,” Uncle Lee answered. ^^But it is not an 
ordinary shrine. You’ll find it amazing.” 

After lunch Uncle Lee stopped in a shop to see 
a display of fine onyx table tops, fireplace panels, 
and interior designs. 

Then the three were in the car again and Uncle 
Lee was saying, ^Uong before the Spaniards came 
to Mexico, Cholula was an important city. It 
contained the principal shrine of Quetzalcoatl, 
the chief Toltec and Aztec divinity. Pilgrims 
came from far and near to worship in the great 
temple. Puebla was then undreamed of.” 

^^And today?” Peter urged. 

'Today,” said Uncle Lee, "Puebla, as you know, 
is a prosperous city of 100,000 people. Cholula is 
just a small town to which curious tourists flock.” 

"We are a good sample of the curious tourists,” 



THE LAND OF CORN 


109 


Nancy laughed. “Why go to Cholula at all, then, 
if it’s just a small town?” 

“A famous pyramid is there. I heard the 
Caines talking about it,” Peter announced. “That 
won’t be much of a surprise for me.” 

The short drive came to an end. Uncle Lee 
cried, “There it is, the great teocalli or pyramid.” 

Nancy breathed a deep sigh of ecstasy. 

“Uncle Lee!” she exulted, “it’s the most amaz¬ 
ing thing we’ve ever seen in a pyramid. That 
wonderful church with its gleaming, tiled dome 
at the top of that huge pile of earth is inspiring.” 

Peter had not spoken. He had heard the 
Caines tell about the proportions of this greatest 
of pyramids in Mexico. He knew that the mound 
measured one thousand feet on a side, that 
it covered an area of forty-two acres, and that it 
rose two hundred feet in the air; but mere fig¬ 
ures had not prepared him for the sight of a 
church with gleaming dome standing at the top 
of a grass-grown hill as if overlooking the land 
below. 

In ancient days the temple had stood there 
with its statue of Quetzalcoatl. A gold collar 
and a jeweled scepter had bespoken his power, 
while men, women, and children climbed the steps 
to worship or to be sacrificed. Now a Christian 
church, with its teaching of tolerance and love, 
replaced ancient symbols of hate and cruelty. 

“Cholula,” said Peter quietly, “was once^^con- 
sidered a sacred city. Now it is one truly.” 



CALLING ON CAPITAL NEIGHBORS 


“TTrE can’t stay in Mexico City much longer,” 

VV Uncle Lee decided as he led the way to his 
car in front of the Caine house. “Our excursions 
will have to end in a few days.” 

Peter and Nancy were sober as Uncle Lee 
drove toward Cuernavaca on a perfect, sunny 
winter morning. But as he began to tell them 
about the town they were to visit, smiles lighted 
their faces. Cuernavaca, he said, was three 
thousand feet lower than Mexico City and was 
already famous as a health resort. It escaped 
the cold winds of the plateau and the weather 
was always mild. 

As they entered the town, it seemed as though 
every lovely, tinted house was set in a garden of 
palms and covered with bougainvillea. 

Uncle Lee took his fellow travelers first of all 
to the palace built by Cortez, where, on the walls 
of the loggia, they viewed the rich frescoes depict¬ 
ing the conquest of Mexico. The frescoes had 
been made by the famous Mexican painter, Diego 
Rivera, and they were a gift, the children learned, 
of Dwight Morrow, United States ambassador 
to Mexico. He had loved the quiet little town 
and had made the gift as an expression of his 
regard. 

“And now,” Uncle Lee announced, “we shall 


110 


CALLING ON CAPITAL NEIGHBORS 


111 


lunch in the loveliest place we can ever hope to 
see, the Borda Garden Inn/^ 

Uncle Lee’s enthusiasm was mild compared 
to that of Peter and Nancy when they walked 
through an exquisite garden in which birds sang, 
flowers bloomed, and the sun shone on the waters 
of a swimming pool. 

“This was the favorite retreat of the Emperor 
Maximilian and the Empress Carlotta,” Uncle 
Lee said. 

“It’s the loveliest place we have seen in all 
Mexico,” Nancy decided. “I feel as though I 
were in paradise.” 

“A mere human being designed it,” Peter put 
in. “Doctor Caine said that he was a French 
mining engineer who made a fortune in Mexico.” 

After a delicious lunch eaten in one of the 
colonnaded corridors that overlooked a flower 
garden, the MacLarens lingered in the gardens. 
Finally they got back into their car, and Uncle 
Lee made the announcement, “Now we shall go 
to view a national monument.” 

“I refuse!” Nancy cried staunchly. “Another 
monument!” 

“I join in the mutiny,” Peter agreed. “After 
this inn at Cuernavaca not even a national monu¬ 
ment will do.” 

Uncle Lee kept on driving. The road was 
good, and five, ten, twenty, and then thirty miles 
clicked off on the speedometer. The car ran into 
a narrow valley and on into a town so delightfully 



112 


PETER AND NANCY IN MEXICO 



Ewing Galloway 

A PICTURE-BOOK TOWN 


quaint that Nancy said it looked like a picture- 
book town. The red-tiled roofs topped pretty 
little stucco houses that lined the crooked streets 
or perched on the edge of ravines, on high ter¬ 
races, or near small bridges. 

Peter and Nancy had already seen many beau¬ 
tiful and distinctive churches in Mexico, but they 
stared in open admiration at the church that 
seemed to dominate this little town. The great 
dome had been constructed of vivid tiles. The 
ornate towers were, by contrast, of a pink stone 
so delicate of shade that it reminded Nancy of 





CALLING ON CAPITAL NEIGHBORS 


113 


apple blossoms. Yet there was nothing frail 
about the two towers as they rose against the 
soft blue of the sky. They were strong and 
lasting and beautiful. 

Uncle Lee parked the car near the church, and 
the children gladly followed him into the dim, 
quiet, cool interior, which was quite as impres¬ 
sive as the exterior. Carved woods, decorations 
in gold, and splendid mural paintings bespoke 
fine taste. 

''Who built it?’’ Peter asked when, at last, the 
three MacLarens came out of the subdued light 
into the brilliant sun. 

"The same Frenchman that built the palace 
and the gardens at Cuernavaca,” Uncle Lee an¬ 
swered. "He made his fortune in silver mines. 
Joseph le Borde! The church is an expression of 
his thanks to God for his good fortune.” 

"The church is no lovelier than the town or its 
setting,” Nancy maintained as they passed an old 
fountain. 

"Cortez lived near this town,” Uncle Lee added. 
"His main object was to mine the silver. Many 
a rich vein lies in these hills.” 

"Now, aren’t you glad we changed your mind 
about going to see a monument?” Nancy chal¬ 
lenged her uncle. 

"Even if it were a national monument?” Peter’s 
glance teased Uncle Lee. "This is worth a thou¬ 
sand monuments. What’s it called. Uncle Lee?” 

"Taxco,” Uncle Lee replied. "The town hap- 



114 


PETER AND NANCY IN MEXICO 



James Sawders 

AN OLD FOUNTAIN IN TAXCO 


pens to be the national monument I wanted you to 
see. The Mexican government has decided that no 
changes may be made or new buildings erected 
without special permission. The officials think 
that the whole town should be preserved as a — ” 
“National monument,” Nancy interrupted, un¬ 
abashed. “Well, if there were more national 
monuments like Taxco, Peter and I wouldn’t 
grumble about visiting them.” 

“Indeed, we wouldn’t,” Peter agreed. 

“We can’t leave Taxco without having a bite 
to eat at one of the street restaurants,” remarked 
Uncle Lee. 








CALLING ON CAPITAL NEIGHBORS 


115 



Ewing Galloway 

AN OUTDOOR RESTAURANT 


Then he led the way to a place across the street 
where Mexican food was cooked and served out 
of doors. 

The next morning when Uncle Lee announced 
that he was driving out to see a “gourd of bloom¬ 
ing flowers/^ Peter and Nancy looked wise. The 
gourd of blooming flowers proved to be Uruapan, 
a little town on the western slope of the central 
plateau. Uncle Lee said the early Spaniards 
spoke of it as the “Paradise of Michoacan.’^ 

The whole countryside through which the Mac- 
Larens drove was tropical in its plant life. Ba- 







116 


PETER AND NANCY IN MEXICO 


nanas, oranges, and figs grew in the moist, warm 
soil. The coffee was reputed to be the best in all 
Mexico, and Mexicans were good judges of coffee. 

Taxco was still fresh in the minds of Peter 
and Nancy, but they found this new town quite 
as delightful. For one thing, water in rivulets 
ran down the sides of the streets and in some 
parts of the town, even flowed down the middle 
of the cobbled streets. Each little tile-roofed 
house had its patio in which roses, magnolias, 
and poinsettias bloomed. 

In the little shops, run by friendly tradesmen, 
were displays of Uruapan lacquer ware that had 
been made in the neighboring villages, the same 
lacquer ware that Peter and Nancy had seen dis¬ 
played in the finest shops in Mexico City. 

As another surprise Uncle Lee drove on a few 
miles instead of turning back on the road over 
which he had come. 

Peter was just saying, “Isn’t it funny, Nancy, 
that we always thought of Mexico as a land of 
desert and cactus?” when suddenly there came 
to his ears the thunder of water, and before 
them was a waterfall that plunged into a swirl¬ 
ing pool below. Through tiny cracks leaped 
countless little falls. The cascades were fairylike 
in their beauty. 

“The Falls of Zararacua,” Uncle Lee announced. 
“And the stream is called the Rio Cupatitzio.” 

Uncle Lee left the car at the hotel and the 
MacLarens boarded a train, a branch of the 



CALLING ON CAPITAL NEIGHBORS 


117 


MexicEn CGntral, to visit Mexico’s great mining 
town, Guanajuato. 

It was located in a narrow gorge, so steep that 
many of the streets turned into steps as they 
wound up the hills. Uncle Lee said that beneath 
the houses, ore dumps, and shaft housings were 
endless tunnels. The town had been built directly 
over the gold and silver mines. Guanajuato was 
formerly the richest mining city in Mexico. The 
Veta Madre, said to be the richest silver mine 
in the world, had been worked there. At one time 
no expense had been spared in building hand¬ 
some promenades, gorgeous parks, and impres¬ 
sive buildings. 

Of course, there were churches. The most 
elaborate one had been erected by Conde de Rul, 
owner of a silver mine. It was called the Church 
of San Cayetano, and it was so elaborate and gor¬ 
geous that it presented a rather strange appear¬ 
ance even to eyes used to Mexican churches. 

The citizens of Guanajuato, who appeared 
happy and carefree, looked prosperous, and there 
was a businesslike atmosphere everywhere. That 
evening Peter and Nancy enjoyed the serenading 
of visitors, by the students of the State College. 

The students looked so gay, the men in their 
big sombreros and the girls in mantillas, and they 
were so friendly in manner, that Peter and Nancy 
wished they were old enough to go to college. 
Then, they said, they would ask Uncle Lee to 
let them stay at Guanajuato. 



THE CITY THAT SILVER MADE 


T he city of Guanajuato by morning light pre¬ 
sented even a more prosperous and glamor¬ 
ous appearance than it had in the late afternoon 
of the day before. The blue mountains seemed 
to shut it in on all sides. The side streets ran 
down into the main street, like hillside streams 
joining a valley river. The houses on the steep 
hills seemed to be climbing as if for a better view 
of the valley. The MacLarens had slept well, for 
the night had been refreshingly cool and free 
from mosquitoes. 

Wandering about after breakfast they came 
to some large stone carvings of frogs in one part 
of the city. 

Uncle Lee said, “The name of the town, Guana¬ 
juato, means ‘Hill of Frogs.’ Until now the frogs 
have failed to materialize.” 

Nancy enjoyed looking up at the various 
houses. They were, for the most part, one-story, 
stucco houses, but they had been painted lovely 
colors, pink, blue, green, or yellow. The citi¬ 
zens evidently loved color, for their clothes were 
very gay. The peons bringing their produce to 
market invariably wore bright red serapes. Bril¬ 
liant flowers decorated every home, every plaza, 
and every promenade. Even the prison was cov¬ 
ered by a riot of flowers. 


118 


THE CITY THAT SILVER MADE 


119 



A HILLSIDE STREET OF GUANAJUATO 


“Would you like to visit the prison?” Uncle 
Lee asked. 

Peter said, “I’d rather see the silver mine this 
afternoon.” 

“I vote for the silver mine, too,” Nancy decided 
quickly. 

The mine of Pinguico was some distance from 
the town. 

Uncle Lee stood for a long time with Nancy on 
the veranda of the main building at the mine. 
From it they could look out upon the brown 









120 


PETER AND NANCY IN MEXICO 


roads across the plain and the little towns miles 
away. Men trudging* along under huge som¬ 
breros or riding what appeared at that distance 
to be toy donkeys, faded out gradually against the 
shimmering sky. 

The superintendent gave Peter permission to 
descend into the mine. 

Uncle Lee seemed glad to stay on the veranda 
with Nancy. Peter jubilantly climbed into the 
crude iron bucket and it was let down into the 
shaft. The first shaft into which he descended 
with the men was probably a thousand feet deep. 
It seemed much deeper to Peter, and he tried to 
fight down the sense of panic he felt in the 
damp darkness. He was greatly relieved when 
they got out of the bucket, and he stumbled along 
behind the men. They arrived at a gallery where 
other miners were working in pairs, cutting out 
rock and ore with chisels and sledges. The man 
to whose care Peter was entrusted wore leather 
soles tied to his feet, a loin cloth, and a very large 
sombrero. 

'To keep the sun off, I suppose,’’ Peter joked. 

The man not only understood Peter’s gesture 
but his language as well. 

"To keep the silver off,” the miner replied. 
"I’ve been to Texas. I worked there one summer 
in the oil fields,” he added to explain his knowl¬ 
edge of English. 

Peter saw the reason for the sombrero later 
on when a shower of ore, which had been loosened 



THE CITY THAT SILVER MADE 


121 


by a pick, tumbled down. The miner who spoke 
English explained to Peter that much of the ore 
was broken loose by means of dynamite. He said 
a hole was made with an automatic drill; a stick 
of dynamite was thrust into the hole, and the 
dynamite was set off by a lighted fuse. 

Peter looked at the sample of ore the miner 
handed him. It was flecked with gold and silver 
and a metal which had a burnished appearance. 

“Copper,” declared the man. 

It was a wonderful experience, but Peter was 
glad to return to the surface and to And Uncle 
Lee and Nancy waiting in the sunlight. 

“Now we are going to see what becomes of 
the ore you mined, Peter,” Nancy teased. “I 
suppose you helped load that iron bucket that 
is just coming up.” 

The bucket that Nancy indicated was dumped 
out on an iron screen made of railroad rails. 
Expert workers broke up the ore, throwing out 
the ordinary rock. A really sizable hill was 
formed entirely of discarded rock. 

The ore was now loaded on a train and taken 
to the stamp mill. Like most stamp mills, this 
particular one was built on the side of a steep 
hill. The ore was dumped in at the top and, as 
it went down the many chutes, it was separated 
from the dross. 

“It’s the noisiest place in the world,” Nancy 
complained. “But of course a stamp mill would 
have to be noisy since it’s breaking up rocks.” 



122 


PETER AND NANCY IN MEXICO 



Ewing Galloway 

A STAMP MILL 

The biggest stones were cracked open with 
great sledges wielded by muscular men. The 
medium-sized stones were sent along broad leather 
belts where men picked out the ones that seemed 
to be worthless. 

The iron stamping machines weighed a good 
many tons. They came down upon the small 
stones several times a second, crushing them to 
powder. When water was added, the result was 
a mortarlike mixture. It went into iron cylinders. 

The process was repeated again and again. 
The last treatment, with zinc shavings, resulted 






THE CITY THAT SILVER MADE 


123 


in the settling of a metal which was half silver 
and half gold. In a locked room this metal was 
melted and made into bricks, worth over a thou¬ 
sand dollars each. 

^^My, they are heavy!’’ Peter exclaimed as he 
lifted one end of a brick. 

^Two to four bricks are considered a good 
load for a donkey,” Uncle Lee reminded him. 
don’t think I’ll try to carry one,” Peter said. 

He watched the miners coming out of the 
shaft. Every one was searched for concealed 
ore. The men looked very tired and dirty. 

‘‘Nothing today,” decided the young American 
who searched the miners. “Sometimes they hide 
ore in their shoes, their hats, or even their hair. 
And there used to be a good many bandits in 
these hills who held up our men on their way to 
town with shipments. But Guanajuato is pretty 
tame nowadays.” 

Peter and Nancy had found it anything but 
tame. For them it had been both strange and 
interesting. 



A CITY OF CHURCHES 


^^rpHE name of a pure-bred Zapotec Indian is 

X the most revered name in all Mexico—Ben¬ 
ito Juarez!” Doctor Caine was visiting with the 
MacLarens as they sat in the pleasant living room 
which was warmed by a stove. ^‘Next to him is, 
perhaps, Porfirio Diaz. Juarez was the great 
liberator, and Diaz was the most famous ruler. 
You are going right into their country.” 

‘‘Then we’re going to visit in Oaxaca. I know 
how to pronounce it.” Peter repeated, “Wah- 
hah-cah! We’ll visit the town and the state, too. 
Was Diaz a full-bred Zapotec Indian, too?” 

“No,” Doctor Caine replied. “His mother had 
Mixtec Indian blood. You must remember him 
for having kept Mexico in comparative peace for 
thirty years. He it was who built the railroads 
and opened up the country to foreign capital. 
But we’re concerned with the Zapotecs at present. 
Show Peter and Nancy the location of the state 
of Oaxaca, Mr. MacLaren. The map is on the 
table.” 

Uncle Lee pointed out the borders of the state, 
indicating that it extended from the jungles of 
Tehuantepec on the Pacific to the cordillera, or 
long range of mountains on the north and east. 

The MacLarens made the trip to Oaxaca by 
train. 


124 


A CITY OF CHURCHES 


125 


Near Puebla dust poured in through windows 
that gave a view of Popocatepetl and Malinzin. 
The sky was azure, the mountain tops snow- 
white, but the land through which the train went 
was a dull brown. 

Old forts that now were manor houses ap¬ 
peared on the horizon. Uncle Lee pointed out 
some graceful stone bridges that had been built 
by the Spaniards. On the brown landscape ap¬ 
peared numerous churches built by the Domin¬ 
ican friars in the sixteenth century. The domes 
were tiled in steel and silver. It was those friars. 
Uncle Lee declared, who had established potter¬ 
ies, one or two of which were still in use. 

One station at which the train stopped was 
famous for the silver-inlaid spurs of blue steel 
that all riders admired. Another station claimed 
fame for its tamales. They were offered by 
venders through the car windows, and the tracks 
were strewn with the discarded cornhusks in 
which the tamales had been wrapped. 

Glancing out, Peter remarked that there were 
soldiers on top of the express car ahead, and he 
experienced a thrill at the thought of possible 
bandits. But when he learned that the express 
car contained ice packed in mats, and bags of rice, 
he was not excited. 

By noon, as the train sped onward, palms 
and banana plants began to appear. The fences 
were made of organ-pipe cacti. Some of the 
fences were so tall that they nearly hid the tiny 



126 


PETER AND NANCY IN MEXICO 



Ewing Galloway 

A CACTUS FENCE 


houses of the natives who stood in their yards 
to watch the train go by. Peddlers offered cactus 
buds at car windows as a delicacy. Peter bought 
a few, but they tasted, so Nancy observed, just 
as one would expect cactus to taste. 

The pottery toys offered by the venders were 
cleverly made. There were birds, muleteers, bull¬ 
fighters, and donkeys, all very lifelike. There 
were the usual pig banks. 

The brown country was left behind. Rims of 
bare brown rocks began to enclose a valley, a 
green valley with a watercourse. Then the rocky 




A CITY OF CHURCHES 


127 


rims rose to mountain heights as the train entered 
Temollin Canyon. The train ran forty miles 
through a gorge as impressive as the Royal Gorge 
in Colorado. 

^‘The gateway into the state of Oaxaca!’^ Uncle 
Lee announced. ‘‘Now you can see how it was 
possible for the Zapotec Indians to remain inde¬ 
pendent during President Carranza’s term.” 

Halfway through the gorge the train stopped 
at a mountain inn. Uncle Lee called it the China¬ 
man’s. Peter and Nancy were to remember it 
as a clean, delightful place where pigeons flut¬ 
tered over the tables from the rafters above, and 
parrots screeched from their cages. The food 
they ate was clean and good, and refreshing 
mountain breezes blew through the dining room. 

Back in the train the MacLarens dozed to the 
steady hum of the wheels. Once Peter roused 
to call Nancy’s attention to a burned roof, the 
result of a bandit raid. Buildings of adobe, tiles, 
and stone, Nancy thought, were not easy to burn. 

The country was very poor now. The women 
who came to sell produce offered stunted ears 
of corn and very small oranges. Even the ba¬ 
nanas and watermelons were small. In the dry 
fields men plowed with wooden plows drawn 
by oxen. Their garments fluttered in the wind. 

Long, monotonous hours passed. The last 
range of hills was crossed. The tracks of the 
train led down into a beautiful valley. 

Small towns with garrisons seemed to pass in 



128 


PETER AND NANCY IN MEXICO 


review, and on the crests of the hills were Indian 
villages. In front of ranch houses women stood 
in lines with woven-reed baskets of coffee. They 
were waiting for the paymaster of the hacienda. 

Oaxaca at last! The station was full of noisy, 
good-natured Indians. Uncle Lee hailed a cab 
which once had been the carriage of some 
wealthy Spaniard. 

As the stately carriage rattled over the cobble¬ 
stones, Peter and Nancy remarked on the num¬ 
ber and beauty of the churches they passed. 

‘Tou told us once. Uncle Lee,’’ Nancy said, 
^‘that Oaxaca had the reputation of being the 
most godly place in Mexico. If churches mean 
godliness, then it surely is godly.” 

The hotel rooms to which the MacLarens were 
taken were large, cool, and comfortably fur¬ 
nished. The food was delicious and of wide 
variety. 

Uncle Lee took Peter and Nancy to the plaza 
on that first evening. A band played until 
twenty-one o’clock, which marked bedtime in 
Oaxaca just as it did in other Mexican towns. 
This was nine o’clock in American time. The 
great cathedral on the plaza had a most remark¬ 
able facade, embellished with fine sculpture. 

‘Tt must be wonderful inside,” Nancy said, 
thinking of the golden cathedral of Puebla. 

Uncle Lee told her the cathedral had been pil¬ 
laged so often that nothing remained of its orig¬ 
inal altar or priceless paintings. 



A CITY OF CHURCHES 


129 


The plaza was alive with color, sparkle, and 
noise. There were army officers in attractive 
uniforms, riders in tight breeches trimmed with 
silver buttons, Indian women wearing gay re¬ 
bozos, and pretty girls guarded by their duennas, 
or chaperones. Occasionally a young man rode 
by on a well-groomed horse with jingling bridle. 

In the morning Nancy woke to the melodious 
chiming of bells. She went to call Uncle Lee and 
Peter and found them in the corridor laughing 
over the size of a key the hotel owner was show¬ 
ing them. It was so large and heavy that Nancy 
could hardly lift it. 

However, when she went out with Uncle Lee 
and Peter after breakfast, she could understand 
the necessity for the big key. The old houses 
were low and massive, and the timbered doors 
had thick steel bars. Those houses had been 
designed to withstand earthquakes and mobs. 
Uncle Lee said that in the past both had been 
only too common in Oaxaca. 

^'The church bells are gentle enough,” Nancy 
suggested, remembering the sweetness of the 
chimes that had awakened her. 

^The bells you heard were probably of gold 
and silver and bronze,” Uncle Lee remarked. 
'‘When one says 'silver chimes’ or 'gold chimes’ 
here, he means literally just what he says.” 

"The richest state in Mexico when the Span¬ 
iards came!” Peter mused. "I suppose they 
mined out all the gold and silver.” 



130 


PETER AND NANCY IN MEXICO 


“That’s where you’re mistaken,” Uncle Lee 
said. “This is still a rich country. The deposits 
about Oaxaca have scarcely been touched. In¬ 
dians still drift in with raw gold, not in nug¬ 
gets but in balls or plates. Some of this gold 
has white streaks of silver in it. But these 
Indians never tell where they get it.” 

“I don’t blame them,” Peter declared with 
some heat. “Why should they trust people? Doc¬ 
tor Caine said that in the time of Cortez many 
friars hid the gold and silver vessels in the walls 
of houses. Some of the friars died without 
revealing the hiding places. Sometimes when 
houses are torn down, hidden gold is found in 
the walls. Doctor Caine says, too, that bandits 
and looters often scraped the gold off the church 
decorations.” 

“I’ll show you the church Doctor Caine was 
probably thinking of,” Uncle Lee promised. 

He led Peter and Nancy to the great church of 
Santo Domingo with its barrel-arch ceiling. The 
ceiling had been beautifully sculptured and had 
gold decorations, as did the walls. Looters with 
ladders had scraped off the gold as high as they 
could reach. 

What was left made the McLarens stare in 
awed wonder. Peter and Nancy were thankful 
that some of that shining splendor remained. 



AMONG THE ZAPOTECS 


T he hotel manager had told the MacLarens 
that the trails leading out from Oaxaca took 
travelers into little towns that could be found on 
no map. A friend of his who had been in this 
country told of seeing great forests and jungles. 
In them were many snakes, bright-colored birds, 
and wild hogs. He spoke also of the alligators in 
the bayous and of jaguars who came close to the 
campfires out of curiosity. Deer drank at the 
rivers and were not afraid of men. 

The manager was very proud of Oaxaca state 
which he said covered thirty-five thousand square 
miles and in which a million people lived. He 
recommended the market in Oaxaca as the place 
where one could see interesting types of people. 

The next morning was market day and the 
MacLarens were up at dawn to watch the mule 
trains that came in from every part of the state. 
They saw little men from the jungles and tall 
men from the hill country. At the market an 
intelligent Zapotec who had learned English told 
Uncle Lee of his village, Jauchitan, which he said 
was the home of the Tree of the Little Hands. 

“The center of the fiower,’' Uncle Lee explained 
to Peter and Nancy as they stood at the fruit 
stall looking at the fine guavas, “is in the form of 
a little hand with the fingers curved inward. The 


131 


132 


PETER AND NANCY IN MEXICO 


color is a lovely red. The Zapotecs as well as the 
Mixtecs venerate it. Many years ago a Mixtec 
chief refused to send a tribute of these flowers to 
Montezuma. The great Aztec chief took thou¬ 
sands of lives as a punishment.’’ 

The cochineal industry was begun at another 
village near by, the young Zapotec informed Uncle 
Lee. This little village of Cuilapan sold the little 
insects of which red dye is made, traders carry¬ 
ing them into Guatemala and to the Canary 
Islands. But today even the natives of the vil¬ 
lage use aniline dyes when dyeing their blankets. 

Then the young Zapotec told them about the 
rubber country around Oaxaca. Peter and 
Nancy thought they would like to see the two¬ 
wheeled carts drawn by oxen and loaded with 
cans, much like our large milk cans, which carried 
the rubber latex, or milky fluid, to market. 

‘This is not like the rubber of northern Mex¬ 
ico,” interrupted Uncle Lee. “There the guayule 
industry is becoming more and more important. 
Guayule is a shrub which produces rubber. 
Workers pull the shrubs, knock off the dirt, and 
load them on burros until the little animals are 
nearly hidden. The burros take the shrubs to 
stations in the desert where they are baled, 
hauled to the nearest railroad, and shipped to 
the factory. Since the roads have been improved, 
large sums of money had been invested in gua¬ 
yule factories, and new towns have sprung up 
near the fields.” 



AMONG THE ZAPOTECS 


133 


Peter and Nancy wandered away from Uncle 
Lee and the market. They saw little children 
lifted from great baskets containing vegetables 
and fruit, in which they had ridden on the long 
trip from some faraway village. Many mothers 
carried babies on their backs as they trudged 
along, and older brothers carried small brothers 
about on their shoulders. Going to market was 
not just business for the man of the house. It 
was a big social event in which the entire family 
took part. It was something to talk about after 
the long journey home. 

Vegetables of all kinds, potatoes, tomatoes, 
peppers, onions, rice, sugar cane, and corn were 
displayed in abundance. There was plenty of 
coffee, vanilla, and cacao. The flowers were 
gorgeous and the medicinal herbs strange and 
interesting. One lad offered oxhorns for sale, 
and hummingbird bodies as charms insuring safe 
journeys. 

Judging from the general produce Peter and 
Nancy decided that the farm lands in the valleys 
between the blue hills must be very rich. 

“What do you suppose the stores in Oaxaca 
sell, Peter?” Nancy asked. “There seems to be 
everything here that anyone would need.” 

“Uncle Lee says the stores deal in imported 
goods only,” Peter answered. “There is a cen¬ 
tral market, too, that happens to be built by an 
American firm. But I imagine most people 
patronize this market.” 




134 


PETER AND NANCY IN MEXICO 



Ewing Galloway 

RAINCOATS MADE OF SISAL FIBERS 


Food seemed to be one of the most important 
products of the market. A woman was selling 
hot tortillas from a basket. They smelled un¬ 
believably good. Some of the food was being 
cooked in little earthen pots over small char¬ 
coal fires, food hot with chili. The coffee beans, 
rice, and vegetable beans were spread on mats 
on the ground. 

One woman was selling raincoats made of sisal 
fibers. Nancy remarked that they looked much 
more like mats than coats. However, they 
seemed to be popular with the natives. 







AMONG THE ZAPOTECS 


135 



SERAPES FOR SALE! 

The serape sellers sat by themselves. Each 
family had a pile of white and red, and black 
and red, and gray and red blankets. Eagle and 
tiger patterns were common. Peter had seen 
several of these men trotting in earlier, each 
under what appeared to be a back-breaking load 
of the blankets. At night the unsold^ serapes 
would have to be carried back up the trails to the 
venders’ native villages. 

“There is something interesting about the 
serapes in this market.” Uncle Lee joined Peter 





136 


PETER AND NANCY IN MEXICO 


and Nancy as they stood admiring a fine red 
and white blanket. think this is the place to 
buy our serapes to take home. They come from 
the village of Teotitlan.^^ 

^They look much the same as other serapes 
to me/^ Peter decided. 

'^But they arenT.’’ Uncle Lee grinned. ^Tn 
Teotitlan there is a cave, and there is a good 
story connected with that cave. One day the 
Spirit of the Shadows spoke to the men of old 
who were gathet^ed there. The Spirit of the 
Shadows decided that from that time forward 
the village of Teotitlan was to devote its time 
to weaving serapes. A neighboring village was 
to make pottery. Another one was to weave 
robes. Still another was to weave cloth. The 
Spirit of the Shadows was very wise. He wanted 
the various tribesmen to be neighborly, and to be 
neighborly they must have a reason for meeting. 
Thus each was required to make something the 
other needed and wanted.’’ 

''So it was really the Spirit of the Shadows 
that started the markets,” Nancy put in. ‘^Men 
had to come together to trade, and, of course, that 
meant visiting and exchanging ideas.” 

‘^Then these markets were not introduced by 
the Spaniards,” Peter decided. ^‘They must have 
been here long before Cortez came.” 

^They were,” Uncle Lee said. ‘^The plaza, too, 
is the result of the need to barter. Of course, you 
have noticed that each Indian village is built 



AMONG THE ZAPOTECS 


137 


around a plaza. Once it was a dusty, treeless 
square. It was the Empress Carlotta who in¬ 
fluenced the Indians to plant trees in their plazas. 
That was the beginning of the beautiflcation of 
plazas. It was followed by the planting of 
‘flowers and the building of fountains.’^ 

Oaxaca, an industrial and commercial center, 
lay on a plain backed against the mountains. Its 
houses were low and massive and earthquake- 
resisting and were built on level ground. But 
all the roads out of the city led upward. The 
educated Zapotec Indian advised Uncle Lee to 
take Peter and Nancy on horseback along the 
road to Teotitlan to see the great Tree of Tule. 
After lunch the MacLarens set out. 

The tree proved to be a cypress 170 feet high 
and so great of girth that thirty persons with 
fingertips touching could barely encircle it. 

As the MacLarens drew rein under the tree, 
the sound of a trumpet came to their ears. Look¬ 
ing up they saw a small church, and on the battle¬ 
ments appeared a soldier with a silver trumpet. 
Uncle Lee said that the tradition of a trumpet 
call had come from the ancestors of the present 
Zapotecs, but no one knew its significance. The 
sounds were strained and mournful. 

The Zapotecs were quite different from other 
Mexicans, Peter and Nancy felt. Of course, they 
spoke their own dialect, and in many villages 
Spanish was not. understood at all. Nancy 
noticed that a Zapotec woman wore her rebozo 



138 


PETER AND NANCY IN MEXICO 


differently. Instead of carrying it around her 
shoulders, she always wound it into a turban, 
with a corner of it hanging down behind. Zapotec 
noses were more beaklike than Aztec noses, Peter 
decided. He also observed that Zapotec chins 
were less receding than Aztec chins. 

‘^And there is another difference,’^ Uncle Lee 
said. ^‘The Zapotec is loyal to his village, his 
own immediate group, instead of to his state. He 
carries on his own wars and resents any inter¬ 
ference. There are feuds back in the hills that 
the government can’t control. The dead are bur¬ 
ied secretly and the wounded are hidden. The 
Indian keeps his affairs to himself. He wants 
no white man mixed up in what he considers his 
own business.” 

On the following morning Uncle Lee hired a 
taxi to visit Mitla, more interesting to arche¬ 
ologists than to any one else. 

^^No one,” Uncle Lee said, ^‘has been able to 
interpret the story the ruins hold.” 

The plains were dry, and although it was early 
spring, plowing was under way. The wooden 
plows, drawn by oxen, merely scratched the sur¬ 
face of the soil. At intervals as they drove back 
to town the MacLarens saw castor-bean plots. 

Vehicles with solid wooden wheels creaked 
along the road. Some of these wagons had 
woven rush canopies through which could be seen 
the blue sky above. 

Many fences were made of organ cacti. The 



AMONG THE ZAPOTECS 


139 



Ewing Galloway 


CART WITH SOLID WOODEN WHEELS 

men and boys working in the fields or driving the 
oxen, all wore heavy gray felt sombreros. Lines 
of women marched along the roadside carrying 
baskets of produce on their heads. The driver 
said that there were often long lines of these 
women walking into town on the railway tracks, 
carrying grain. It was cheaper to carry the 
produce than to send it by freight. 

The car passed an old church with a series of 
dome roofs and soon Mitla came in view. 

The ruins were massive and mostly covered 
with what looked like jigsaw puzzles in relief. 
There were insets of stone that Uncle Lee said 
were cut from a lava rock of yellowish tint. 
Peter stared at the uncarved lintels. They must 





140 


PETER AND NANCY IN MEXICO 



Ewing Galloway 

WALLS OF THE TEMPLE AT MITLA 


have weighed tons. Nancy called to her brother 
to look at the exquisite designs carved on some 
of the blocks of stone. 

‘Was Mitla a town?’’ Nancy asked Uncle Lee. 

“Mitla means ‘resting place for souls,’ ” Uncle 
Lee explained. “Perhaps Mitla refers to the 
world beyond.” 

Peter walked through the subterranean pas¬ 
sages. Nancy attempted to find something in the 
inscriptions that she might understand. Uncle 
Lee bought a copper axhead that a vender in¬ 
sisted he had found in a tomb in Mitla. Uncle 



AMONG THE ZAPOTECS 


141 


Lee told Peter when he finally emerged from 
his explorations that it was possible that the 
ancient Zapotecs knew the secret of tempering 
copper. 

Peter, however, was more interested in the 
ornate passageways. A guide had told him that 
there were a million stone slabs, about an inch 
thick, in the mosaic decorations. These little 
pieces had been hewn from a quarry and shaped 
with stone hatchets. In his mind Peter saw 
countless men fashioning the small stones, and 
others hewing out the six large columns that 
were in the Hall of Monoliths. These columns, 
three feet in diameter and fourteen feet high, 
had once supported the ceiling and roof of what 
might have been a palace. 

“Such workers should be remembered,” Peter 
thought, and hoped that some day the archeolo¬ 
gists would be able to read the story of the very 
earliest Zapotecs. 



MEXICO^S SECOND LARGEST CITY 


T he train that was to carry the MacLarens 
into Guadalajara stopped at Irapuato just 
long enough for them to buy boxes of delicious 
strawberries. 

‘TVe always wanted to be able to eat a great 
big box of strawberries out of season/^ Peter de¬ 
clared as he seated himself opposite Uncle Lee 
and Nancy in the train. 'They say that here in 
Irapuato you can buy strawberries fresh from 
the plants every month in the year. My, but 
these are big, wonderful berries!’’ 

But as Peter continued to eat, his expression 
changed, for the big berries had been on top, and 
they gradually decreased in size. Peter grinned 
good-naturedly. 

"The Mexicans are like the Americans,” he 
declared. 

The MacLarens knew that all three of the main 
railroads ran into Guadalajara, and they were 
not surprised to get off the train and find them¬ 
selves in a rich, fine city. It was the capital of 
Jalisco, one of the richest states in Mexico. 

Peter and Nancy were soon out on the streets 
after getting their baggage settled in their hotel 
rooms. The business section was delightful, 
for the pedestrians were always out of the sun 
except when crossing the streets. Great stone or 


142 


MEXICO'S SECOND LARGEST CITY 


143 


adobe archways that Uncle Lee called portales 
covered the sidewalk. Everywhere there were 
the famous porous clay jars for sale. Uncle 
Lee said that, because of the evaporation, water 
would keep cold in them even on a warm day. 

Dinnertime in a fine restaurant proved to be 
a most enjoyable hour. And when the lights 
came on, there were huge electrical signs such 
as Peter and Nancy associated with home. Uncle 
Lee secured a cab to show the children the city 
with its many plazas. Later they returned to 
the central plaza to hear a good band concert. 

Nancy was awakened at dawn next day by the 
peal of countless bells. Down below a policeman 
was blowing a whistle. An electric streetcar 
sounded a gong as it pounded over the tracks. 
Dogs were barking, roosters crowing. Nancy 
tried to snuggle down for another nap, but vend¬ 
ers began to shout their wares. A strolling 
young man who chanced to be passing began to 
sing. An old man’s voice broke into a singsong 
wail, ^^Leche, leclieT 

Nancy got up, bathed, dressed, and went out 
on the little balcony off her room. Evidently 
that cry, 'Ueche, leche!” meant nothing more 
than ''Milk, milk!” for across the street a girl 
came out with a clay jar. The old man who had 
been wailing, poured some milk from one of two 
big cans his mule carried. Then he went on 
down the street. At the same time a boy driv¬ 
ing a flock of turkeys came up the street. The 



144 


PETER AND NANCY IN MEXICO 


turkeys marched along, their necks making a 
sharp, jerking motion with each step. The boy 
flicked at them with a stick at the end of which 
was a piece of string. 

In the hall Nancy encountered Uncle Lee and 
Peter who insisted on breakfast before viewing 
the street scenes with her. 

By the time the MacLarens had finished 
breakfast and had come out on Nancy’s balcony, 
the sidewalks of Guadalajara were alive with 
workers. Senoritas, fashionably attired in bright 
thin dresses, clicked past on high heels. Their 
stockings were silk, their hair bobbed, their hands 
manicured in the latest style. Young men in 
flannels carried sticks and smoked native cigar¬ 
ettes. The girls and the men might easily have 
come from Hollywood. 

Strolling out to see the town. Uncle Lee pointed 
out the colossal prison. He quoted the local say¬ 
ing, “They built the jail big enough to hold every¬ 
body in town, as a warning.” He then added, 
“And the quickest way to get into jail is to 
argue with a traffic cop.” 

The MacLarens went window-shopping. Nancy 
stopped often to look at pieces of pottery in the 
old Aztec designs. Uncle Lee told her that many 
of these pieces of pottery had been made by Mexi¬ 
can Indians who lived in the small neighboring 
town of Tonala. The art of pottery making and 
decoration had been passed from father to son 
since the days of the Aztecs. Peter laughed over 



MEXlCO^S SECOND LARGEST CITY 


145 



Ewing Galloway 

A FAMILY OF ARTISTS 


a display of caricatures made of clay by one of 
the famous Panduro brothers, Indian artists. Not 
only had the artist made a statuette of Obregon; 
he also had made one of Henry Ford. Uncle Lee 
was most interested in the work that interpreted 
life in Mexico: tiny pack mules, market women, 
and vaqueros, or cowboys, on horses. These sculp¬ 
tors had never taken lessons, but their ancestors 
had worked in clay before the Spaniards came. 

As the members of a small band came march¬ 
ing along the street making lively music, Nancy’s 



146 


PETER AND NANCY IN MEXICO 


eyes sparkled. She cried, '‘Music everywhere! 
Oh, there's another organ-grinder. That must be 
the tenth weVe seen today. How do all the organ- 
grinders make a living?" 

"Strange as it may seem," Uncle Lee explained, 
"organ-grinders are subsidized by a fund that 
was willed to the city to insure free hand-organ 
music always. As for the bands that we see, it is 
quite customary for a man to hire a band to cele¬ 
brate any stroke of luck he may have. Often he 
strolls past the homes of his friends with his 
band and boasts of his achievements." 

Near the post office the MacLarens saw a man 
writing on a typewriter set up on a box. He 
was a public scribe, they learned. He would 
write any kind of letter anyone wanted written. 

As in other Mexican cities, there was a splendid 
cathedral. It rose against the sky, its twin 
towers visible for miles. On feast days long 
strings of lights illuminated the towers. It was 
in this fine old cathedral that the MacLarens 
viewed a great painting, Murillo's "The Assump¬ 
tion of the Virgin." Uncle Lee said that it had 
been given to the cathedral by the king of Spain 
in return for help in the Peninsular War. Many 
men went to his aid from Guadalajara, and 
legend tells that money was raised for the king 
by melting gold and silver plate and candle¬ 
sticks from the cathedral. 

In the public library were some very valuable 
manuscripts. The librarian complained that only 



MEXICO'S SECOND LARGEST CITY 


147 


too often the ancient histories of Mexico were set 
aside for such modern things as radios and 
motion pictures. 

The stores sold modern goods. A merchant, 
Nancy observed, never expected a customer to 
carry a large package. He invariably called a 
street porter who trotted behind the customer 
with the package all the way home. There seemed 
to be many wealthy customers, and Uncle Lee 
said there were many families in the city who 
owned heirlooms of gold and silver plate. 

The next day Uncle Lee secured a car for a 
two-day trip to Lake Patzcuaro in the state of 
Michoacan. As the MacLarens drove out of Gua¬ 
dalajara they discussed the interesting city they 
were leaving behind them. 

‘'How old is Guadalajara, Uncle Lee?” Nancy 
asked. 

“The town was laid out about 1530, I believe,” 
Uncle Lee replied. “The word Guadalajara is 
from the Moorish and means ‘river of rocks.' The 
king of Spain gave the town its coat of arms in 
1539. By 1560 it had become important, but it 
was a center for the Indian slave trade. The 
slaves were forced to work in the mines, and many 
a fortune in this city dates back to that period.” 

The ride was pleasant, and after several hours 
the party arrived at Patzcuaro. Peter and Nancy 
were delighted with the little town perched on a 
hill overlooking the thirteen-mile-long lake. 

“Patzcuaro means ‘a joyous place,' ” Uncle Lee 



148 


PETER AND NANCY IN MEXICO 



Luis Marques 

THE FISHING BOATS WERE SIMPLE DUGOUTS 

informed them as they left their small hotel and 
wandered down to the lake. ^This whole region 
is noted for its beauty and serenity, and this sec¬ 
tion is called the Paradise of Mexico by the Mexi¬ 
cans themselves.’^ 

The people did seem happy! Women, pictur¬ 
esque in their wide skirts pleated around the 
waist, with tops opening like fans over hand- 
woven sashes, walked by with lovely water jars 
on their heads. 

'These Tarascan Indians are an extremely 
high type and possessed great culture before the 



MEXICO'S SECOND LARGEST CITY 


149 



Luiz Marquez 

THE INDIANS USE THEIR FISH NETS FOR SAILS 


coming of the white man/' Uncle Lee told them. 
''Now they are simple fishermen and farmers. 
They are looked upon as being very honest and 
straightforward, and they are highly regarded 
throughout Mexico. 

“President Cardenas himself is a Tarascan, 
and his private home is in Lago just a few miles 
up this shore.” 

Peter and Nancy had been watching the fleet 
of fishing boats which were coming in. As they 
came closer it could be seen that they were simple 









150 


PETER AND NANCY IN MEXICO 


dugouts, some of them holding as many as thirty 
men. 

“Look at the sails!” Nancy cried. “Thin, gauzy 
sails that you can see through! They look like 
nets.” 

“They are nets,” Uncle Lee agreed. “The In¬ 
dians use their fish nets for sails. It seems 
strange that anything so full of holes can be used 
to propel a boat over the waters of the lake, but 
strangely enough it can.” 

As the darkness settled over the lake the Mac- 
Larens went to their hotel knowing that they 
would never find a place more unspoiled and 
peaceful. This mood lingered to the next morn¬ 
ing when they went down to the shore to take a 
last look at the lake and to watch the fleet go out 
for another day of fishing. 

On the way back to Guadalajara the Mac- 
Larens saw many cornfields but few small farms. 
Most of the land was in huge estates owned by the 
wealthy. In fact, the haciendas were really quite 
like the medieval feudal estates, and the govern¬ 
ment had just begun to be interested in cutting- 
up the large tracts into small farms for the 
masses. 

Early the next morning the MacLarens boarded 
the Southern Pacific train for Mazatlan on the 
western coast. Situated just across the gulf 
from Lower California, it had become a popular 
winter resort. 

While Uncle Lee was busy at the hotel, Peter 



MEXICO'S SECOND LARGEST CITY 


151 


and Nancy wandered past the gay pink stucco 
houses and on to the picturesque lookout places, 
built of stone and perched high on the cliffs above 
the sea. 

Nancy thought it was a strange sight to see 
factories, sawmills, and foundries where there 
were so many beautiful, graceful palms, and 
elephant-ear banana trees. 

Before returning to Guadalajara, Peter and 
Nancy dined with Uncle Lee in the open patio 
of a quaint Old World cafe. Here they stayed 
until evening, that they might see the breakers 
of Olas Atlas Bay, lighted with phosphorus and 
tumbling against the sea wall. 



IN THE TROPICS 


T he MacLarens returned to Mexico City from 
Guadalajara by train but only for an over¬ 
night stay. Uncle Lee disposed of his car and 
bought tickets on the Mexican National Railway 
to Veracruz. Regretfully he announced that 
the time had come to leave the high plateau with 
its cool, delightful climate for the tropical heat 
of the Gulf coast. 

The descent from the great plateau must have 
been a difficult engineering feat, for the railway 
line zigzagged back and forth for miles. 

Sometimes it seemed as though the train were 
teetering on the brink of a precipice, and once 
Peter and Nancy looked out of the window at a 
town two thousand feet below them, the town 
of Maltrata. 

One familiar landmark remained, the symmet¬ 
rical snow-capped summit of Mount Orizaba. It 
seemed to be very far away. Even when the Mac¬ 
Larens stayed overnight in the town of Orizaba, 
the mountain seemed to be at a great distance 
from town. 

There was no time in which to visit Orizaba’s 
large plantations or cotton mills, for early in the 
morning the MacLarens were descending to Cor¬ 
doba. This little town lay almost directly below 
Orizaba, but it took eighteen miles of winding 

152 


IN THE TROPICS 


153 


road and tunnels to get there. Peter and Nancy 
soon realized that they were in tropical country 
again. The train passed through jungles where 
orchids hung in the trees. Banana plants rose 
above the tangled bushes, and once in a while a 
coffee plantation appeared. A blackbird sat in a 
pink locust tree. The sun shone on red-flowered 
trees deep in the jungles. 

Their journey ended at Veracruz where the 
Mexican railway also ended. 

^'We really came in the back door of Veracruz,’^ 
Uncle Lee declared. ‘The front entrance is the 
sea.’’ 

Peter and Nancy knew that Cortez had landed 
in Veracruz on Good Friday and had given the 
place a name appropriate to the day—the True 
Cross. 

The MacLarens drove about the city and were 
impressed with the industry of the port. Uncle 
Lee said the city had once been a very unhealth¬ 
ful place where a traveler had been almost cer¬ 
tain to contract yellow fever. Now, however, 
it was quite healthful even though the heat did 
make one feel as though he were running a 
temperature. 

How gay the town was! The houses were 
painted in bright yellows, reds, and blues. The 
windows of the ground floor had iron bars like 
those of a prison. There were few chimneys as 
all over Mexico the people use charcoal for cook¬ 
ing, and it was too hot to have a fire for warmth. 



154 


PETEK AND NANCY IN MEXICO 



Ewing Galloway 

NATIVE WOMEN OFFERING LINENS FOR SALE 

Along the streets were Mexican women selling 
embroidered linens which they had made. Nancy 
liked the work so much that she decided to buy 
a scarf for her mother. 

Many of the women on the street were dressed 
in black, with lace shawls over their heads. The 
men from the country had hats with brims a foot 
wide and trimmed with bands of silver and gold 
as thick as a finger. 

The harbor was a modern one, and ships were 
loading and unloading onto concrete docks by 
means of cranes. Travelers were coming up 



IN THE TROPICS 


155 


gangplanks from ships. Many travelers visiting 
Mexico begin their journey at Veracruz, Uncle 
Lee explained, and a large proportion of exports 
and imports are handled through Veracruz. 

‘‘Everything but oil, I suppose,’’ Peter volun¬ 
teered. 

“Right!” Uncle Lee agreed. “Tampico is the 
oil port.” 

Driving into the country they passed thickets 
of bamboo, cane, mahogany and ebony trees, and 
vines which bore the vanilla beans. Mocking¬ 
birds whistled at them as they passed. Some 
Indian women brought pineapples to the car. 
Uncle Lee bought some, and later they ate them 
with a spoon. Of course, they were fresher 
and riper than any sold in the States. 

By morning the heat of Veracruz seemed only 
a myth. A cold wind began to blow. Uncle Lee 
said it was called a norte. The plaza was deserted 
by the sunshine-loving Mexicans. It was a dusty 
plaza, but the MacLarens’ hotel faced it, and it 
was interesting if not beautiful. 

The MacLarens sailed by boat from Veracruz 
to Tampico, a pleasant journey for Peter and 
Nancy. Uncle Lee sat with a glum American 
who had oil interests in Tampico and who was 
much concerned because, according to the 1917 
constitution, the Mexican Government guaran¬ 
teed to the owner of the surface, subsoil rights 
only on lands acquired before 1917 and definitely 
tagged for oil purposes. 




156 


PETER AND NANCY IN MEXICO 



Ewing Galloway 

A BUSY MARKET PLACE IN TAMPICO 

^WeVe built the town/’ the American oil man - 
growled. ^‘Why, down here even the natives call 
Tampico Gringolandia. We’re gringos, all right, 
but what prosperity would there be without us?” 

Peter grinned at Nancy. 

‘The oil Uncle Lee uses in his car is probably 
from Tampico,” he remarked. 

Near the coast oil derricks rose against the 
bright blue sky. A pall of black smoke hung 
over Tampico from a recent fire in an oil well. 
There was a greasy smell in the air. 






IN THE TROPICS 


157 


Uncle Lee said that the wildcat period of oil 
exploitation had seen Tampico grow from a dozen 
mud huts to a modern city of paved streets. 
Nowadays there were many American homes, 
and modern sanitation. 

Dinner in Tampico meant American food and 
an American atmosphere. 

“Why should we call ourselves Americans, as 
though the United States were all of North 
America?” queried Nancy, as dessert was served. 
“Mexico, and Canada, too, are also parts of 
America.” 

“You have asked a good question, Nancy, and 
one we are not likely to think of until we are out 
of the United States,” said Uncle Lee. “You see, 
when the Europeans wanted to speak of the peo¬ 
ple in North America, they could easily say ‘Mexi¬ 
cans’ or ‘Canadians,’ but they could not make an 
adjective of the name United States, and so they 
came to call the people of the United States 
Americans.” 

The MacLarens returned to Veracruz and then 
went to Cordoba in order to take the Mexican 
National Railroad down to the Isthmus of 
Tehuantepec. Peter and Nancy were deeply 
impressed by the dense jungle through which 
the train moved. Gangs of men were constantly 
at work to keep the plant life from covering the 
tracks. Fruit grew so plentifully that all of it 
could not be used. Oranges that hung ripe_ on 
trees would drop to the ground to rot. Pine- 



158 


PETER AND NANCY IN MEXICO 


apples were offered through the train windows 
for a few cents. Uncle Lee pointed out the 
various beautiful palm trees that rose from the 
tangled masses of foliage. 

The valley gave way to hills, the hills to 
meadowlands. There were cattle grazing on the 
rich bottoms, and there were gardens near neat 
houses. At one station Peter saw some boys who 
reminded him of the neighbor boys back home. 

‘They certainly are not Mexicans,” Peter de¬ 
clared. 

“They are Americans,” Uncle Lee agreed, 
“descendants of Mormons who came here from 
Utah years ago.” 

The train reached Santa Lucrecia before mid¬ 
night, and the MacLarens went directly to the 
hotel. Uncle Lee insisted that Nancy be given 
a room with screens and also a mosquito net 
canopy for her bed. 

“The town is less than a hundred feet above 
sea level,” Uncle Lee explained. “The air is 
nearly always hot and heavy, as it is tonight. 
By daylight you’ll see that the houses are made 
of sheet-iron and thatch for the most part. They 
have to be built upon piles to be safe from floods 
and wild animals.” 

But Peter and Nancy were too tired to care 
much about the town. They were glad to be 
shown to their rooms and to fall asleep on string 
beds. Uncle Lee could not sleep because the 
partitions of his room did not reach the ceiling 



IN THE TROPICS 


159 


and he could hear the sounds from all over the 
crude hotel. But no sounds could keep Peter and 
Nancy awake. 

In the morning the three MacLarens met on 
the hotel porch. They were in the midst of a 
banana grove. 

^We’re in the narrowest part of Mexico!” 
Peter exclaimed, looking at a map. ^The chain 
of mountains stretching from Alaska down the 
Pacific coast almost disappears here.” 

The train that the MacLarens took sped south¬ 
ward across the isthmus. Several Tehuantepec 
women in the train wore their national head¬ 
dress, the huipil. It was an elaborate creation 
of lace and ruffles, starched stiff with part of it 
hanging down the back. Uncle Lee said that a 
woman wearing a huipil and balancing a ffower- 
painted gourd on her head made a very attrac¬ 
tive picture, even though her feet were bare. 

Nancy was interested in one group of women 
in the train. Each woman wore a skirt made 
of a square of cloth wrapped about her waist. 
Her blouse was sleeveless. In her smooth, black 
hair she wore red flowers and about her throat 
a necklace. Peter could hardly be convinced that 
some of those necklaces were made of actual gold 
pieces from the United States. 

The houses all through the jungle were of 
flimsy construction. There was no need for sub¬ 
stantial buildings. The people seemed happy. 
The food they needed was close at hand, and 



160 


PETER AND NANCY IN MEXICO 


there was no necessity for hard labor. A few 
men and women worked in the fields of sugar 
cane. They walked behind crude plows drawn 
by oxen. 

‘‘We’re coming into Tehuantepec,” Uncle Lee 
announced presently. “It’s the largest town on 
the isthmus.” 

The large town proved to be an Indian village 
of a great Zapotec family, with sandy lanes lead¬ 
ing between groups of houses. There were some 
cobbled streets. A shallow river ran through the 
valley in which the town was located, and here 
the townspeople bathed and did their washing. 

There was a great proportion of women in the 
market place. Uncle Lee said that so many of 
the men had been killed in warfare that the 
women had learned to do most of the work. They 
grew most of the sugar cane and sold it in the 
market. 



LAND OF VOLCANOES AND COFFEE 


T he MacLarens rode in a cart drawn by oxen 
to a small railroad town in order to take 
the Pan-American train. It was not much of 
a train, since it had only a single passenger car 
attached to a freight. 

“Like our Peanut Special back home,” Peter 
observed. 

Without hurry or flurry the train made its 
way along tracks that ran through high jungle 
plants that often swished against the car win¬ 
dows. Parrots flashed in and out of bamboo 
thickets, and cockatoos scolded from thick tan¬ 
gles of vegetation. 

Then the jungle gave way to arid land full of 
cactus and mesquite. All day the train crept 
along, making a little over a hundred miles. All 
night it rested from its exertions. The Mac¬ 
Larens with other passengers spent the hours 
in a tiny, hot hotel with no modern accommoda¬ 
tions. 

Another day’s ride in a southeastern direc¬ 
tion, and the MacLarens found themselves at 
sundown in Mariscal on the Mexico-Guatemala 
border. 

The officer who inquired into Uncle Lee’s rea¬ 
son for traveling in Guatemala with two young 
people was most helpful when he learned that 


161 


162 


PETER AND NANCY IN CENTRAL AMERICA 



Ewing Galloway 

OX-CARTS IN GUATEMALA 

the quest was for a knowledge of geography. He 
found a crude, two-wheeled cart to take the Mac- 
Larens to Coatepeque where there was a hotel. 
The cart was drawn by oxen, and the yoke was 
fastened to the top of the oxen’s horns in regu¬ 
lation Spanish style. The wheels were heavy 
wooden ones that creaked, and the cart, with the 
MacLarens sitting on the floor, tipped and tilted 
in the deep sand. The sun was hot. 

While Peter and Nancy clung to the fencelike 
sides of the cart, the oxen waded streams, 
pushed doggedly through openings in the jungle, 
and went on over uneven, boggy ground with as 




LAND OF VOLCANOES AND COFFEE 


163 


little concern as though they were on a hard 
dirt road. Nor did the insects seem to bother 
them greatly. 

The hotel in Coatepeque was like a simple 
barracks, but to Peter and Nancy it seemed the 
very essence of luxury that evening. 

Immediately after breakfast next morning the 
MacLarens started out. All over the country¬ 
side they saw sharp-pointed peaks, which Uncle 
Lee said were volcanoes. 

“They’re a blessing as well as a bane,” he de¬ 
clared. “Lava soil makes good coffee soil. Vol¬ 
canoes and coffee belong together.” 

“Evidently bananas belong here, too,” Peter 
decided. “There seems to be an endless number 
of banana groves—everywhere you look. Are 
we going to employ our oxcart? It seems to be 
waiting.” 

The MacLarens had never visited larger coffee 
plantations nor more prosperous ones. The trees 
had been planted in long, parallel rows, the shiny 
green foliage so thick that each tree seemed to 
be almost solid. Peter and Nancy knew, from 
seeing coffee plantations in South America, that 
the trees had to have a certain amount of pro¬ 
tection from the hot sun. Here in Guatemala the 
shade was furnished by banana plants or some¬ 
times small jungle trees. 

The bushes were covered with bright red ber¬ 
ries, the color of holly berries, but beanlike in 
shape. Opening a couple of the berries, the 



164 PETER AND NANCY IN CENTRAL AMERICA 


children discovered the familiar white coffee 
beans, two of them, their flat surfaces together. 

Women were picking the berries carefully, put¬ 
ting them into baskets, and carrying the baskets 
up to the big plantation house where they were 
to be spread on outdoor floors to dry in the sun. 
Men kept shoveling the great heaps of coffee 
beans so that they would dry evenly. The Mac- 
Larens watched them for some time, then went 
to see the old women who, with swift fingers, 
hulled beans in the shade of their huts. 

The owner of this particular plantation was 
absent, but Uncle Lee chatted with the overseer 
who told him that the workers received only a 
few cents a day for their work. But he assured 
the shocked MacLaren children that the laborers 
were also given fifty pounds of corn and beans 
each month, as well as a half-pound of salt. 

‘We’re returning to Mariscal the way we 
came,” Uncle Lee decided as the trio rode back to 
the hotel. “From there we’ll go to Guatemala 
City. Now don’t ask questions!” 

Peter and Nancy sensed that a surprise awaited 
them. Going back along the road over which 
they had come, they found it a decidedly busy 
place. There was a constant procession of sturdy 
Indians, in colorful homespun garments, carry¬ 
ing produce to market. Donkeys struggled along 
under heavy loads, men carried packs, and even 
young girls supported large earthen vessels of 
water on their heads. 



LAND OF VOLCANOES AND COFFEE 


165 


^^Are all the people in Guatemala Indians?’’ 
Peter inquired. 

^ There are about twenty different tribes of In¬ 
dians here,” Uncle Lee answered. ‘‘Some are 
descendants of the Toltecs and some are Mayas. 
I’d estimate that eight out of ten people in Guate¬ 
mala are of pure Indian blood. The other fifth 
of the population claims European ancestry. 
Some of the plantation owners are Germans. 
They grow coffee, cacao, and sugar cane. The 
visitors are people from all countries.” 

“And what kind of Indians are these?” ques¬ 
tioned Peter as they ^ met a group of natives 
wearing kilts. 

“Kakichecial Indians,” Uncle Lee replied. 
“They are known as the ‘Scotchmen of Central 
America.’ ” 

As the oxcart bumped along over the uneven 
stones into Mariscal, a welcoming yell rose above 
the creaking and rumbling of the wheels. Before 
the oxen had stopped, Peter and Nancy were out 
of the cart shouting, “Jim.my! Jimmy Dustin!” 

Tall, brown, slim Jimmy Dustin greeted his 
friends. His blue eyes were merry. 

“What’s the idea, traveling by oxcart?” he 
teased. “You’d never see much of Guatemala 
that way. Don’t you know that in the most 
backward countries you must travel the^ most 
modern way? You could have flown directly 
from Mexico City to Guatemala City. Or you 
could have gone by water on the Atlantic side 



166 


PETER AND NANCY IN CENTRAL AMERICA 



James Sawders 

“SCOTCHMEN OF CENTRAL AMERICA” 


to Puerto Barrios, or to San Jose on the Pacific 
side. Then you could have taken the Inter¬ 
national Railways which connects the ports with 
the capital. Well, my planers waiting for you. 
Come on! All aboard for Guatemala City!’^ 
Jimmy’s airplane arose from lowlands washed 
by tropic seas. Then he swung the plane inland 
where the MacLarens could look down on tropi¬ 
cal forests, peaceful fields, and meadowlands 
where cattle grazed and where simple villages of 
thatched adobe huts nestled in green valleys. 






LAND OF VOLCANOES AND COFFEE 


167 


Lakes like blue jewels and mountains with 
snowcaps appeared on the landscape. The two 
large cone-shaped volcanoes, Agua and Fuego, 
came into view and a modern city appeared below. 
From the plane the city looked like a checker¬ 
board, with low buildings set in a pattern. 

The MacLaren party landed safely, took a taxi 
to the hotel, and planned to spend several days 
in the capital of Guatemala. After a delicious 
lunch, Jimmy olfered to entertain Peter and 
Nancy for a short time. The children found the 
stores delightful. Goods were moderate in price, 
and they always had the good fortune to find a 
clerk who could speak English. 

“I thought Guatemala was the most out-of- 
the-way country in the world,” Peter remarked. 
“I didn’t think we’d be able to buy so much as 
a toothbrush.” 

“It is an out-of-the-way place.” Jimmy grinned. 
“Of course, the All-American Cable Company will 
take a message from you and get it to the proper 
address in Minnesota. The Tropical Radio has 
direct circuits to the United States, and the 
radio-telephone service is available to all. Some 
of the Indians in Guatemala have made com¬ 
mendable progress. Many who practice their 
crafts and sell their products for a living have 
been educated in the free schools of Guatemala 
City. Don’t look so disappointed. You’ll find 
plenty of primitive life, if that’s what you’re 
looking for. See Agua up there?” 



168 


PETER AND NANCY IN CENTRAL AMERICA 



Ewing Galloway 

AN INDIAN WEAVER IN GUATEMALA 

The volcano looked peaceful enough, but its 
story was a tale of devastation and terror. Jimmy 
declared that there had been three capitals of 
Guatemala, the present capital being the third. 

The first capital, which was now called the Old 
City and was inhabited by a few thousand In¬ 
dians, had been founded by Pedro de Alvarado. 
With the help of fine architects and expert work¬ 
men from Spain, he made it a magnificent city. 
In 1541 it was destroyed by a flood. The lake in 
the crater of the volcano Agua broke through 






LAND OF VOLCANOES AND COFFEE 


169 


the walls and flooded the city, sweeping away 
the work of the builders and causing great mis¬ 
ery. The survivors moved the capital two miles 
northeast, and with courage built a new city of 
grand palaces and magniflcent cathedrals. But 
this time Fuego erupted, pouring down a flood of 
hot lava on the city and setting the beautiful new 
buildings on Are. Where the second capital stood 
is the ruined town of Guatemala Antigua, which 
means “the ancient.” A few thousand Indians 
live among its ruins, or close by. 

Peter and Nancy marveled at a people that 
could build with hope and courage after expe¬ 
riencing such great disasters. The new capital, 
Jimmy was saying, had been located twenty 
miles from the second capital and had served as 
the seat of government since 1779. 

“And don’t think this capital hasn’t had a hard 
time,” he challenged Peter and Nancy. “It looks 
peaceful enough as you walk along the streets 
' here beside me, but there have been earthquakes, 
floods, avalanches, and epidemics in its lifetime. 
The Indians believe that the evil spirits are try¬ 
ing to drive the people away from the lovely 
surroundings of Agua and Fuego. You’ll see 
the old cities, and, since I can’t take you. I’ll 
put you in charge of a Clark tour.” 

“Tourists!” Peter objected. 

“Which isn’t a bad thing to be,” Jimmy de¬ 
clared. “Or maybe you’d rather be on your own 
in an oxcart.” 



A RELIEF MAP 


T here is no such thing as window-shopping 
here in Guatemala City/' Nancy observed. 
'‘It's funny that there are no glass windows 
in the shops, just wide-open doors. Of course, 
plate-glass windows wouldn't be very satis¬ 
factory in case of an earthquake. I suppose the 
doors on the inside lead to the home above the 
shop. It's a convenient arrangement." 

"Speaking of doors!" Peter paused before a 
fine large house of ivory stucco. "Look at the 
immense door of this house, and the brass knocker. 
I've been noticing knockers like that all along the 
street. They're usually of brass or iron and in 
the form of a human head or hand. And this 
door has another door cut into it, a smaller one!" 

"Jimmy told me about such doors," Nancy in¬ 
formed her brother. "The small door is the 
family entrance, and the big door swings open to 
admit a carriage or a car. The door opens on the 
patio, not into the house. Peter, let's go to the 
Mercado Central on our way back. Uncle Lee 
says it has the most tropical produce of any 
market in Central America." 

The great market occupied an entire square, 
and it offered every variety of food and handi¬ 
craft that could be found in Guatemala. Bundles 
of firewood were plentiful. Because of the 


170 


A RELIEF MAP 


171 



James Sawders 


SELLING FIREWOOD AT THE MARKET 

scarcity of coal in Guatemala, many of the people 
found it necessary to buy wood or charcoal. 

Peter and Nancy enjoyed seeing the Indians 
even more than viewing their products. Their 
blue-black hair shone in the sunlight, and their 
skins were like copper. The Indian women in 
their bright, homespun garments were a pictur¬ 
esque sight. They were merchants in their own 
right, clever at displaying their wares, and shrewd 
at selling. Many of these Indians walked a good 
many miles to sell produce on which there was 
only a few cents’ profit. 






172 


PETER AND NANCY IN CENTRAL AMERICA 


Uncle Lee listened smilingly to the children’s 
account of their morning’s excursion. 

‘'Do you want to go down to Minerva Park 
with me this afternoon and see the big relief map 
of Guatemala?” he asked as the three finished 
lunch. 

Peter and Nancy assented without enthusiasm. 

However, they were delighted when they be¬ 
held the famous giant relief m.ap inside the race 
track, a map that covered several acres and 
revealed every mountain peak, plain, stream, 
and trail in the whole country of Guatemala. 

The afternoon hours fiew while Peter and 
Nancy walked around the map. Uncle Lee be¬ 
came tired, but he realized that the relief map 
told the geographical story of Guatemala to Peter 
and Nancy much better than he could tell it. 
Even the flight in Jimmy’s airplane could not 
give so complete a picture. 

Guatemala was, in fact, all mountains and 
high valleys. The only lowland lay in two strips, 
along the east and west coasts. Peter counted 
twenty-eight volcanoes. 

“Most of those volcanoes are active.” Uncle 
Lee indicated one with his stick. “That partic¬ 
ular volcano erupted in 1902 and covered Que- 
zaltenango with several feet of volcanic ash, and 
ruined the fine coffee plantations near the town.” 

While the MacLarens looked on, the water was 
turned into the relief map, and rivers and lakes 
began to fill up. 



A RELIEF MAP 


173 


“Now I’ll never get you youngsters away!” 
Uncle Lee looked pleasantly resigned. “Well, that 
lake there near the Pacific is Lake Atitlan. It’s a 
beautiful blue lake, and it fills the crater of an 
extinct volcano which is five thousand feet high. 
The lake itself is apparently bottomless.” 

“There’s another lake I” Nancy exclaimed. “It’s 
very near the capital.” 

“Lake Amatitlan,” Uncle Lee decided. “It’s 
only eighteen miles away. Look at that river. 
That’s the Motagua, near some ruins of the 
Mayan civilization. We’ll visit Quirigua where 
other Mayan ruins still stand. Once a city stood 
there, a glorious city with palaces, cathedrals, and 
beautiful homes.” 

As they drove back to the hotel Uncle Lee 
stopped at the Cerro del Carmen church, an 
ancient hermitage built in 1620, from which the 
visitor might gain a fine view of Guatemala City. 

On the way to the Mayan ruins at Quirigua 
Uncle Lee told Peter and Nancy a great deal 
about the Mayas. They were, he said, the most 
highly civilized Indians that ever lived in North 
America, and they fiourished for fifteen hun¬ 
dred years beginning about the time of the birth 
of Christ. Then they left their beautiful homes 
and moved northward into Yucatan. The stone 
cities they left behind have puzzled every scholar 
who has studied about them. 

“Why did they leave their homes. Uncle Lee i 
Nancy inquired. 



174 


PETER AND NANCY IN CENTRAL AMERICA 


“No one knows,” Uncle Lee answered. 

“But you must have some idea,” Peter urged. 

“Earthquakes, possibly,” Uncle Lee guessed. 
“Human enemies who drove them out and then 
perished of a pestilence themselves. Disease or 
famine! Almost an impossibility, of course. To 
me the most likely explanation is that super¬ 
stition drove them out, perhaps some such super¬ 
stition as that of the Indians today who believe 
that demons under the earth want the beautiful 
lands at the base of the volcanoes for themselves. 
It may interest you youngsters to know that 
the ruins of Quirigua were lost for centuries and 
were discovered by John Lloyd Stephens, an 
American, in 1839.” 

“How could a city be lost?” Peter demanded. 

“Vegetation grew up about the buildings,” 
Uncle Lee explained. “Earth formed over them 
as the rains beat the vegetation down; other plant 
life made inroads and dirt accumulated.” 

“Speaking of rains,” Nancy put in, “we haven’t 
had a rain since we arrived.” 

“It’s really spring the year round in Guate¬ 
mala,” Uncle Lee announced. “But for practi¬ 
cal purposes the natives speak of two seasons, the 
rainy season from May through October, and the 
dry season from November through April. Of 
course, it’s the dry season now.” 

Uncle Lee drove the car between long, green 
rows of bananas as the MacLarens neared the 
ruins of Quirigua. 




James Sawders 


MAYAN RUINS NEAR QUIRIGUA 




176 PETER AND NANCY IN CENTRAL AMERICA 


“The railway company uncovered some of the 
ruins,” Uncle Lee remarked. “But most of the 
work was done by the United Fruit Company 
in 1910. This banana plantation, which sup¬ 
plies the company with some of its fruit, covers 
thirteen thousand acres. Where the bananas 
grow a Mayan city once stood. About seventy- 
five acres have been left free from planting. 
That’s where the finest ruins are. Of the 
seventy-five acres only fifteen have thus far been 
cleared of jungle growth.” 

Peter and Nancy gazed in awe at what had 
once been impressive buildings and monuments. 
Even in such a state of ruin, with the woodwork 
decayed and eaten away by ants, the remains 
were amazing. 

“Some of the stones are still buried in the 
ground, others only partly so,” Uncle Lee said, 
as he pointed out the base of a large stone block. 

Peter declared that these stones reminded him 
of E^pt, for they were covered with hiero¬ 
glyphics. He did hope that sometime a scholar 
would find a code similar to the one of the Rosetta 
stone, that would unlock all the knowledge that 
remained in the strange writing. 

Nancy called out, “There’s the queerest face 
on this stone. It looks like a Chinese face.” 

“Some scholars think the Mayas may have 
been Tartars,” Uncle Lee answered as he joined 
Nancy. “That face does look Chinese. The 
Mayas may have come from Asia after all, cross- 



A RELIEF MAP 


177 



CARVED STONES OF THE MAYAS 


ing Bering Strait and journeying down into 
Central America.” 

“Here’s a turtle that is a turtle!” Peter 
shouted. “And he’s completely covered with hiero¬ 
glyphics. It would take me a month to read his 
story, even if I could make out the funny char- 
3<ct6rs.^^ 

The turtle that Peter pointed out was fully eight 
feet high, and Uncle Lee guessed that it weighed at 
least twenty tons. He went on to tell Peter that 
the turtle was probably considered sacred by the 
Mayas just as it was by the Chinese. 



178 PETER AND NANCY IN CENTRAL AMERICA 


suppose there are quarries close by/’ Nancy 
volunteered. ^‘That is a pretty big stone to carry 
very far.” 

But Uncle Lee informed her that there were 
no quarries near by. There was no natural rock 
of any kind. The immense blocks of sandstone 
might have been brought down the Motagua 
River on rafts, but how such stones were lifted 
into place Uncle Lee could not explain. Surely 
the Mayas were great builders, perhaps even 
greater than the Aztecs. 

^T want you to see the banana shipments for 
Puerto Barrios, the great east-coast port,” Uncle 
Lee decided. ‘T’ll make arrangements for us 
to stay at the plantation house tonight.” 

After a good night’s rest on the plantation as 
guests of the American manager, the MacLarens 
were escorted over the plantation in a handcar 
pumped by two Negroes, along tracks that ran 
for miles between the green plants. Peter had 
always wanted to ride on a handcar. Occasion¬ 
ally he was permitted to take one of the handles 
and pump it up and down. 

Peter and Nancy had seen many banana plan¬ 
tations. They knew that bananas did not grow 
on trees but on a great plant having a fleshy 
rootstock, known as a rhizome. They knew also 
that in this rootstock sprouted large buds or 
''eyes”—much like the eyes in potatoes. Pieces 
of rootstock had to be planted as one planted a 
piece of potato. If the rootstock did not grow. 



A RELIEF MAP 


179 



DELIVERING BANANAS AT A JUNGLE STATION 


a shoot of tho old plant was stuck into the ground, 
and it usually grew rapidly in the rich soil. Some 
children might be surprised on seeing a banana 
plant. But Peter and Nancy had seen bananas 
growing before, a single bunch on a plant and 
hanging just the opposite from the way me 
grocer hung them at home—seemingly upside- 

down. , , 

None of the MacLarens ever had seen a ripe 
banana on a well-run plantation. Bananas were 
picked when green in order to reach the market 
a fine yellow color. The fruit was handled very 
carefully, for if a single banana were bruised the 





180 PETER AND NANCY IN CENTRAL AMERICA 


whole bunch would spoil before it reached the 
market, they were told. 

Peter and Nancy found it easy to ask questions 
in what Uncle Lee called Bananaland. Most of 
the workers were Negroes, but the managers 
were either American or English. The Mac- 
Larens were to hear English spoken all through 
the Caribbean countries. 

^^Just when I was beginning to learn Spanish,’^ 
Peter lamented, as the MacLarens prepared for 
their next trip. 



GLEAMING CITIES AND OLD WELLS 


J IMMY Dustin had swooped down out of the 
dazzling blue sky of Guatemala. Now he 
was nosing his plane north for a view of the 
Peninsula of Yucatan. Not all of it, of course, 
but enough to give Peter and Nancy a glance at 
the general topography! Jimmy compared the 
peninsula to the thumb of a giant’s hand. Uncle 
Lee’s map had shown that the thumb projected 
northward from the mainland between the Carib¬ 
bean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico. Yucatan lay 
in the northern half with Campeche and Quin¬ 
tana Roo. 

A few low foothills appeared on the flat sur¬ 
face of the country. Uncle Lee said that it was 
really a limestone plain, and Peter worried be¬ 
cause there seemed to be no rivers and few lakes. 
“Where do people get water?” he inquired. 
“There is no surface water to speak of,” Uncle 
Lee answered. “There are many large, natural 
wells, known as cenotes. There’s plenty of water 
in Yucatan, and climatic conditions are good. 
The nights are always cool, even after the hottest 
days, because of the trade winds from the Carib¬ 
bean. But the very hot weather will not begin 
until April or May.” 

“Merida, the capital, is less than nine hours 
from Miami,” Jimmy volunteered. “If you want 


181 


182 


PETER AND NANCY IN MEXICO 


to pass up Honduras and Nicaragua, Nancy, I 
can fly you back to your native shores before 
daybreak/^ 

glad to know my native shores are so 
close,’^ Nancy decided, ''but I think Ifll stay with 
the rest of you in Yucatan/^ 

The view of Merida was a startling one. 

"Windmills!’^ Nancy shouted. "Look, Peter! 
Look, Uncle Lee! Hundreds and hundreds of 
flat-roofed houses, and enough big windmills so 
that there must be one for each house. Imagine 
enough windmills to go around! I must be see¬ 
ing things!’’ 

And practically every house did possess a well. 
The wells dated from Spanish times when there 
were no waterworks. Jimmy said that there 
were about four thousand windmills and that the 
trade winds furnished the free power that turned 
the wheels. 

There were, the MacLarens learned, over a 
hundred thousand people living in Merida. It 
was one of the cleanest towns they had visited. 
Little, flat-roofed houses of rough masonry coated 
with lime plaster livened the paved streets with 
their lovely pastel colors of cream, pink, blue, 
green, and yellow. The yellow houses, of which 
there seemed to be a great many, were the color 
of sunshine, Nancy declared. 

Jimmy, who had friends in Merida, took the 
MacLarens to call at a home whose front, like 
most of the others, presented grilled windows to 



GLEAMING CITIES AND OLD WELLS 


183 


the street. The house was delightful within, and 
opened onto a patio blazing with flowers. The 
fragrance of the tropical blooms filled the air. 

With evening, lights came on all over the city. 
Near the MacLarens’ hotel electric signs shone 
cheerfully. Peter and Nancy boarded an auto¬ 
bus and toured the city, visiting the parks and 
returning in time to see a movie. A bootblack 
with a portable box shined Peter’s shoes for a few 
cents, and a sweetmeat vender persuaded Nancy 
to buy some of his candied cactus. 

The crowds were a strange mixture, the Mexi¬ 
cans dressed in modern garb, the Mayan Indians 
in picturesque native costumes, and tourists in 
conventional American clothes. The cathedral, 
located on the east side of the central plaza, looked 
down upon the oddly assorted peoples and upon 
the numerous windmills that so intrigued Nancy. 

Uncle Lee explained that the earliest history 
of Yucatan was to be found in its caves. These 
cave dwellers, he said, may have been the an¬ 
cestors of the Mayas who built the cities of cut 
stones. Both used the same utensils, the same 
kind of water jars, the same corn grinders, and 
even the same kind of jade ornaments, earplugs, 
beads, and pendants. The excavations were right 
there in Yucatan to tell the story of the Mayan 
civilization. 

Sitting on a bench in a plaza near the hotel. 
Uncle Lee made a startling statement: “Mayan 
civilization was founded on corn!” 



184 


PETER AND NANCY IN MEXICO 


“On corn!” Peter and Nancy shouted it to¬ 
gether, and Nancy added, “We’ve eaten tortillas 
at almost every meal since we left home, and the 
sound of corn cakes being patted into shape is 
the most common sound we’ve heard. But to say 
corn means culture is a dilferent matter. Now, 
isn’t it?” 

Uncle Lee, however, had the most plausible ex¬ 
planation. The Mayas were farmers, and as 
such they were interested in the different sea¬ 
sons of the year: when the corn should be planted, 
when it should be harvested, and when the dried 
leaves should be burned. To measure time the 
priests began the study of astronomy. They 
invented a chronology, or calendar, exact to the 
day within a period of 37,000 years. 

“Maybe you won’t understand how important 
my next statement is,” Uncle Lee challenged 
the two interested children. “But the Mayas 
were among the first people in human history to 
use the symbol zero. Now don’t laugh! For the 
first time numbers were placed by position, but 
no one had thought of zero as a symbol for the 
point of reckoning. You’ll understand better 
when you’re older. These Mayan priests had 
accurate knowledge of the heavenly bodies, could 
foretell eclipses, and could determine the length of 
a year. How important that was, you -will see.” 

“They had a regular weather bureau, I sup¬ 
pose,” Peter suggested. “The priests were the 
weather men.” 



GLEAMING CITIES AND OLD WELLS 


185 



James Sawders 


THE GREAT CALENDAR STONE OF THE AZTECS 

^^Exactly.’^ To Peter^s surprise, Uncle Lee 
agreed. ^The wealth of the Mayas was in corn. 
They were agriculturists, and as such were in-, 
terested in the weather.’^ 

^Tarmers like us!’’ Nancy put in. ^^Only, in 
their case, corn was the staff of life instead of 
wheat bread.” 

^^Good!” said Uncle Lee. ^^Knowledge of the 
seasons enabled the Mayas to grow more corn. 
Then they knew when to plant. More corn, more 
wealth! More wealth, more leisure! More lei- 





186 


PETER AND NANCY IN MEXICO 



Ewing Galloway 

THE TEMPLE AT UXMAL 

sure, more attention to such things as art, sculp¬ 
ture, architecture, ceramics, and featherwork, 
too! Some of the headdresses of the chiefs must 
have been magnificent/’ 

As Uncle Lee talked, Peter and Nancy could 
almost see the cities of the fourth to eighth cen¬ 
turies. He pictured great public buildings made 
of stone and decorated with brilliantly painted 
stucco. He described tall pyramids on top of 
which stood temples towering to the sky—the 
first skyscrapers in America. 




GLEAMING CITIES AND OLD WELLS 


187 


Then there were the monasteries and palaces 
and observatories; there were even stone courts 
where ball was played. As in modern Indian vil¬ 
lages, these stone cities had a central plaza, but 
they also had very high terraces. Monuments of 
from five to twenty-five feet in height graced these 
terraces as well as the plazas. The monuments 
were erected at ten-year intervals to commem¬ 
orate events or to make calendar corrections. 

During the eighth century the building ceased. 
The priests began moving northward into Yuca¬ 
tan, and the common people withdrew from the 
cities and let the jaguar and the deer roam their 
grass-grown streets. 

‘‘Once,’’ said Uncle Lee, “I gave you a number 
of rather dramatic reasons why the Mayas left 
their cities of stone: earthquakes, enemies, or 
epidemics. Now I want you to know what our 
own agriculturists think. They have an explana¬ 
tion that will appear very reasonable to you young¬ 
sters who have been brought up on an American 
farm. They think the land wore out.” 

“I know!” Peter was eager. “Our Department 
of Agriculture found out that the second-year 
crop from a field is only about two-thirds as large 
as the first year’s crop. The third year’s crop 
will be a third less than the second year’s. The 
Mayan fields simply wore out, that was all.” 

“Good reasoning, Peter!” Uncle Lee approved. 
“Even today the Mexicans find it easier to clear 
a new patch than to fight the weeds in an old 



188 


PETER AND NANCY IN MEXICO 


corn patch. The new patch means burning trees. 
In Mayan times the forests were burned, the 
corn was planted, and eventually there were 
no more forests to clear. Grass grew over the 
land. The Mayan with his stone ax and his 
wooden planting stick was unable to cope with 
his problem. Mayan agricultural life had come 
to an end.’^ 

On the way back to town Uncle Lee said, 
wish that we had time to visit a chicle camp so 
that you might see the natives preparing some 
of the material used in chewing gum. But that 
will be impossible now. The trip would require 
several days, and we must leave tomorrow.’^ 

Then Uncle Lee explained: ^^Chicle is usually 
found in dense jungle. To obtain the material, 
gashes are cut in the tree, one below the other, 
so that the sap can flow down to the bottom of 
the tree. The sap is taken to the camp where it 
is boiled until it stiffens like sugar syrup. It is 
then poured and molded. A block of molded 
chicle is worth from five to ten dollars. The 
shipment of the blocks is very difficult in the 
rainy season, because four or more days are 
required to transport it from the camp to the 
railroad station.’’ 

That afternoon, Jimmy flew the MacLarens 
to Chichen Itza, one of the stone cities, to show 
them more ruins of the Mayan civilization. Soar¬ 
ing above the ruins of stone pyramids and tem¬ 
ples, Peter and Nancy thrilled to the story the 




Ewing Galloway 


CUTTING TREES FOR CHICLE 


190 


PETER AND NANCY IN MEXICO 



Ewing Galloway 


A BLOCK OF MOLDED CHICLE 


excavations told, the story of a lost civilization. 

‘‘Chichen Itza,’^ Uncle Lee said, ^‘meant, in 
the Mayan language, ^the mouths of the w^ells 
of Itza.’ 

Uncle Lee located the two wells for which the 
city had been named. Cenote de Xtoloc, or the 
lizard well, in the center of the city, had two 
masonry stairways down its deep sides. This 
well had supplied the city with water. The other, 
Cenote Sagrado, at the eastern end of the city, was 
known as the well of sacrifice. Into this well 
young maidens had been hurled at dawn to ap- 





GLEAMING CITIES AND OLD WELLS 


191 


pease angry gods who were visiting the people 
with droughts or famine. The Itza people also 
flung their worldly possessions into this well. 

Uncle Lee said the Carnegie Institution of 
Washington had retrieved such valuables as jade 
earplugs, nose rings, gold beads and rings, carved 
bones, shells, and carved wooden weapons. 

One of the most elaborate buildings to be re¬ 
stored and reclaimed by the Carnegie scientists 
was the Temple of the Warriors. It stood there 
in the bright sunlight, gleaming white, a pyra¬ 
mid-sanctuary and colonnade. On its pillars were 
many sculptures of fighting men, no two alike. 

Peter strove to identify men, jaguars, and 
monkeys on the panels, but Uncle Lee said that 
it took an archeologist to explain the carvings. 

El Castillo was a very large temple which rose 
seventy-five feet in the air and was approached 
by staircases on all four sides. Its serpent- 
pillars were of a kind known in few other places. 

Feathered serpents were plentiful in the dec¬ 
orations. In fact, the two high columns that 
guarded the entrance to the Temple of the War¬ 
riors represented feathered serpents. Uncle Lee 
pointed out the fact that the heads with their 
wide-open mouths lay on the ground. The body 
formed the column, and the tail with tufts of 
feathers rose above it. Before the entrance lay 
a strange stone figure holding a plate for offer¬ 
ings. Jimmy pointed out some of the soldiers 
carved in relief. 



192 


PETER AND NANCY IN MEXICO 



Ewing Galloway 

EL CASTILLO AND ITS STAIRCASES 


^‘Once/’ he said, ‘^they were very lifelike. Their 
eyes were made of white shell with small circles 
of black pitch to form the pupils. The relief was 
usually painted in bright colors.^^ 

On the tops of some of the temples were super¬ 
structures that looked like tall walls. They had, 
Uncle Lee said, purely a decorative purpose. He 
pointed out one that had, he insisted, figures of 
rulers in it, but to Peter it was just a stone wall 
through the crevices of which cacti grew. 

The MacLarens knew that one visit to Chi- 
chen Itza would not be enough, nor would a 
dozen visits be. It would still have much to offer. 




GLEAMING CITIES AND OLD WELLS 


193 



Ewing Galloway 


HAULING BALES OF HENEQUEN FIBER 

On the way back Peter asked to stop at a 
hacienda where henequen fiber was being baled. 
This golden fiber was made from a plant which 
the MacLarens had seen growing close by. 
Nancy said each plant looked like a bunch of 
sharp spurs, but she knew that sisal was a great 
source of wealth in Yucatan. 

The henequen was being loaded on a truck to 
be taken to Progreso, the port of Yucatan. From 
Progreso it would be shipped to New Orleans. 

‘‘And from New Orleans it will, in time, reach 
Minnesota as binder twine,^’ Peter prophesied. 








TO THE CITY OF SILVER HILLS 


J IMMY Dustin’s plane had left Yucatan and 
now it was zooming above Honduras, just 
east of the Guatemalan border. Like Guatemala, 
Uncle Lee said, Honduras had only a strip of 
swamp land on either coast but plenty of high pla¬ 
teaus and mountains back from the coast. 

“Down there,” Jimmy shouted, “is the cordil¬ 
lera, or main range of mountains. It runs north¬ 
west-southeast, and is parallel to the Pacific. 
We’re above it now, which means that we’re fly¬ 
ing about fifty miles inland from the coast.” 

The earliest explorers had discovered pyra¬ 
mids and carved stones in Honduras. These ad¬ 
venturers had been seeking gold and silver. Did 
they discover what they sought? Nancy wanted 
to know. Jimmy said that they certainly did— 
silver particularly. He had visited the American- 
owned mines of Rosario at San Juancito, just 
twenty-five miles from the capital. These mines, 
he said, were the largest in Central America 
and attracted much more attention than did the 
pyramids and the carved stones. 

“Honduras in Spanish means ‘great depths,’ ” 
Uncle Lee put in. “Columbus gave it that name 
because he had difficulty in anchoring his boats 
in the deep water along the Atlantic coast.” 
“Great Depths is a good name for the inte- 


194 


TO THE CITY OF SILVER HILLS 


195 


rior, too,” Peter declared. ^‘Jimmy would have 
a hard time anchoring his ship on one of these 
mountainsides. That field down there is cer¬ 
tainly on the upgrade. You could slide down the 
field with a sickle in your hand and cut corn.” 

The pine and oak forests were rich and beauti¬ 
ful. Here and there rubber trees and coconut 
groves appeared, especially when Jimmy swung 
downward toward the coast. There were ba¬ 
nanas, too, though Jimmy said the great banana 
plantations were on the north coast. Once in a 
while a few cattle were visible, and often a mule 
appeared carrying a load along a trail. But no¬ 
where did there seem to be any great center of 
population. 

'T thought that Guatemala had few people,” 
Nancy observed, '‘but Honduras seems even less 
populous. Good word, Peter—populous!” 

"Honduras has only a third as many people as 
Guatemala,” Uncle Lee informed Nancy. "Most 
of them are of Indian and Spanish descent. On 
the north coast where the big banana plantations 
thrive there are plenty of Negroes. And on the 
Mosquito Coast you’ll find Caribs.” 

"Caribs!” Peter cried. 'Td like to see some 
Caribs. Once they inhabited these coastlands and 
were such terrors that they gave the name to the 
Caribbean Sea. If a runaway slave escaped from 
the islands to the Mosquito Coast, he had a sure 
refuge. At least, it took a daring soul to go after 
him.” 



196 


PETER AND NANCY IN CENTRAL AMERICA 


^^Caribs today are not what they were/^ Uncle 
Lee remarked dryly. ''But Honduras hasn’t 
changed much. You youngsters may be glad 
Jimmy is flying us to Tegucigalpa. I believe it’s 
the only capital on the American continent that 
has no railway.” 

‘^Asuncion in Paraguay has none,” Peter said. 
^^But of course that’s in South America.” 

^‘Aren’t there any railways in Honduras?” 
Nancy inquired. 

^There is a government railway that runs 
toward the capital from Puerto Cortes on the 
north coast,” Uncle Lee answered. '^But it gets 
discouraged and stops at a little town in the foot¬ 
hills. An automobile may get you along some of 
the trails, but mules are the safest means of 
travel. There are few hotels. A native might 
let you hang a hammock in his windowless house.” 

‘‘Do the people of Honduras sleep in ham¬ 
mocks?” Nancy inquired. 

“No,” Jimmy answered that question. “They 
have no beds of any kind as a rule, and there are 
no floors in their houses. They are not needed. 
It’s a grand climate. They sleep on sun-dried 
oxhides on the ground. For blankets they use 
empty grain sacks. There are always plenty of 
beans to eat and the usual tortillas—a trifle 
heavy, perhaps. If you like your coffee black, 
you’ll be happy here. The women have their own 
way of cooking eggs. They always break a little 
hole in an egg before they boil it.” 




A JUNGLE IN HONDURAS 



198 PETER AND NANCY IN CENTRAL AMERICA 


‘'Why a hole in it?^^ Nancy inquired. “I usually 
make a hole in mine afterward.^^ 

“They think/’ Jimmy explained, “there must be 
a hole so the boiling water can get inside the egg.” 

Jimmy was flying as low as he dared above the 
forests and plunging mountain streams where an 
occasional bright-leaved mahogany tree rose above 
the dark green of the pines. Such trees, Jimmy 
told them, were worth about ten thousand dol¬ 
lars, but it was difficult to get them to market. 

“The natives make fence posts and furniture 
of such wood,” Jimmy declared. “Imagine solid 
mahogany fence posts!” 

The engine settled to a steady hum. 

“We’re directly over the Royal Highway!” 
Jimmy announced after awhile. He turned 
around to grin mischievously at Peter and Nancy. 
“In Spanish it would be called El Camino ReaV 

“Where is it?” Nancy shouted, and Peter 
echoed, “Where?” 

The two MacLaren children saw only the green 
jungle, a patch of corn on a hillside, fenced with 
mahogany if Jimmy were right, and a stony 
brook near a grassy path. There was no sign of 
human life, but there were a number of crooked 
telegraph poles with a lone, sagging wire strung 
on them. 

“The telegraph lines belong to the government,” 
Uncle Lee said. “You can send a message any¬ 
where in Honduras for a nickel.” 

“Please let’s get back to that Royal Highway,” 



TO THE CITY OF SILVER HILLS 


199 


Nancy begged. “Point it out before we leave it.” 

“There’s no hurry,” Jimmy said calmly. “It 
goes all the way to Tegucigalpa from the Gua¬ 
temalan border. For all its splendid name, it’s 
nothing more than a trail. It goes up hill and 
down dale. Once in awhile it climbs a few stone 
steps, and it may even turn into a fairly good 
road for a short distance. It’s not at all easy to 
follow, though the telegraph lines do help.” 

Jimmy’s explanation was interrupted by an 
exclamation from Peter. 

“A town! A town!” he shouted. 

The town below was Santa Rosa, a pretty little 
place with a white church. Jimmy said that there 
were no electric lights or automobiles in Santa 
Rosa, but as he saluted the town, Peter and Nancy 
caught a glimpse of cobblestone streets. 

Then the plane zoomed on, gaining altitude. 
Another city appeared below. It was Coma- 
yagua, Jimmy said, the second largest town in 
Honduras. He pointed out a sheep pasture which 
also served as a plaza in the middle of the town. 
This slow little town—at least it appeared lazy 
in the sunlight—had once been the capital of 
Honduras. , , » 

“Tegucigalpa will probably be much better, 
Nancy decided. “A city called the ‘City of Silver 
Hills’ would have to be romantic.” 

“Names don’t mean a thing here,” Peter teased. 
“Your Silver Hills may be on a par with the 
Royal Highway.” 



200 PETER AND NANCY IN CENTRAL AMERICA 


The first view of Tegucigalpa showed a town 
hedged in by mountains across which the setting 
sun threw exquisite light and color. Over the 
hills wound two roads that looked like tan rib¬ 
bons. A whitewashed cathedral with twin towers 
dominated the town and looked down on the 
one-story buildings with their red tile roofs. 

With some difficulty Jimmy brought the plane 
down in an open field not far from the town, and 
the four adventurers walked along the pathway 
on Picacho, a hill that overlooked the capital. 

The central plaza, in which the MacLaren party 
eventually found itself, was not particularly 
lively. There was an arbor covered with purple 
bougainvillea and there were concrete walks, but 
Peter and Nancy were more interested in food 
and sleep than in purple flowers. 

The bare rooms of the hotel looked inviting, 
even though the beds proved to be cots that sagged 
from long usage. 

Breakfast next morning consisted of oranges, 
boiled eggs, tortillas, and black coffee. The ser¬ 
vants were barefoot, and no one seemed to mind 
the dogs and chickens that wandered in to pick 
up scraps of food. 

The fresh mountain air was like a tonic, and 
the little shops were pleasant places in which to 
wander about. 

After a two days’ rest Jimmy flew his friends 
down to the coast on the Gulf of Fonseca, where 
Uncle Lee, Peter, and Nancy boarded a launch for 



TO THE CITY OF SILVER HILLS 


201 


Amapala, on an island twenty-four miles off the 
coast. 

After finding a comfortable hotel in Amapala 
Uncle Lee decided on an excursion. Early next 
morning he secured horses, and the three Mac- 
Larens rode to the top of an extinct volcano on 
the island. 

''From this point,’’ Uncle Lee explained as he 
drew rein, "we can see three countries. Off 
there is Honduras! There is Salvador! And 
there is Nicaragua! Tomorrow we’ll start out 
to visit the neighbors again!” 



TWO LITTLE COUNTRIES AND A BIG ONE 


T he MacLarens landed on the coast of Salvador 
in the same launch that had taken them 
over to Amapala. From the ocean they could 
see that Salvador was not lowland. From the 
coast rose a low plain that mounted to a level 
plateau from which cone-shaped mountains 
poked up into the bright sky. Nancy counted a 
number of them and Peter asked, ^Wolcanoes?’’ 

‘They^re the shape of volcanoes, anyway, 
Peter,’^ Nancy decided. 

^'They^re volcanoes, all right,’’ Uncle Lee 
agreed. ‘^One of them—Izalco—has been erupt¬ 
ing for over a hundred years. It lights up the sky 
nightly, and sailors call it the ^Lighthouse of Sal¬ 
vador.’ Salvador is like Guatemala in respect to 
volcanoes. In other respects, it’s quite different.” 
^Tor example?” prompted Peter. 

‘Tt’s much smaller, about the size of a big 
banana plantation or a cattle range—140 miles 
long and 60 miles wide. But it is thickly pop¬ 
ulated. There are more inhabitants here than 
in any other country in Central America. To be 
exact, there are more than a million people living 
in thirteen thousand square miles of territory, 
which makes Salvador one of the most crowded 
countries in the world. The Black Republic of 
Haiti in the West Indies is the only country in 


202 


TWO LITTLE COUNTRIES AND A BIG ONE 


203 


the western hemisphere more thickly populated/' 

The next day Jimmy arrived and the Mac- 
Larens were soon soaring above the busy little 
country that Jimmy pronounced one of the most 
industrious in the world. 

^ When‘there are so many people living close 
together," he explained, ^^everyone has to work 
harder to make a living. Look down below!" 

The hills over which the plane flew were cul¬ 
tivated to the very tops. There were little patches 
of corn here such as Peter and Nancy had seen 
in Honduras and Guatemala. Every acre of 
space was being utilized. It was a delight to look 
down into the cultivated valleys even though 
there was less forest to enjoy than in Honduras. 

The land seemed to be divided into little farms, 
and there were no large estates as in Guatemala, 
with the native people working for a foreign 
owner. Each man owned his own land, acres 
made fertile by volcanic ash. Jimmy pointed out 
Mount San Miguel, which was smoking. The 
children looked down on several rivers flowing 
toward the Pacific. They watered land planted 
with corn and coffee. 

school teacher from Brazil started the coffee 
industry here in 1840," Jimmy informed the Mac- 
Larens. ''He planted a coffee tree in his garden, 
and they say these trees are the descendants." 

"A large percentage of Salvador's exports is 
coffee," Uncle Lee put in. "France and Germany 
use most of it. Indigo is important, too, and 



204 PETER AND NANCY IN CENTRAL AMERICA 


there are some minerals here, including silver 
and gold. It’s a great little country.” 

“Look at that grove of willows!” Nancy pointed 
out. “It seems odd to see so many together. At 
home we have only a hedge near the pond.” 

“That’s indigo,” Uncle Lee explained, laughing. 
“Those branches that look like willow switches 
are soaked in water to which chemicals have been 
added in order to extract the indigo. Then the 
mixture is boiled down to a paste.” 

“We may get our bluing from Salvador for 
all we know,” Nancy decided. “And this blue 
suit may have been dyed with switches from that 
very farm. I like the idea.” 

Then Jimmy announced that he v/as going to 
fly over the city of San Salvador. 

“And don’t confuse this San Salvador with the 
little island in the West Indies where Columbus 
landed,” he warned. “After I’ve shown you 
San Salvador in its perfect setting, you’ll never 
forget it. I think it’s the most beautiful city in 
Central America.” 

Jimmy had not exaggerated. San Salvador 
lay on a green plateau among green hills at the 
base of a volcanic mountain. Deep ravines had 
been worn by mountain streams, a protection 
against enemies and a benefit for land that was 
never thirsty. In the city a cathedral pointed to 
the sky, and government buildings presented 
handsome facades to the central plaza. The wide, 
cobbled streets were straight, as though the city 



TWO LITTLE COUNTRIES AND A BIG ONE 


205 



THE CRATER OF COSEGt)INA VOLCANO 


had been carefully planned, and the sidewalks 
were of stone and cement. The thick-walled 
houses had lovely, flowery patios, just as the 
city itself had beautiful plazas with palm trees 
and flowers. 

^‘In spite of earthquakes San Salvador has 
never become discouraged/^ Uncle Lee observed. 
''It is modern and progressive. It has good water, 
good schools, and a good telegraph system. It 
has even a good public health department. 

Regretfully the MacLarens took leave of Sal- 



206 PETER AND NANCY IN CENTRAL AMERICA 


vador. The same launch returned them to 
Amapala in Honduras. From Amapala they sailed 
by steamer to Corinto, the chief Pacific port of 
Nicaragua. 

As the steamer passed Cosegiiina Point, they 
sighted the extinct volcano Cosegiiina. Uncle 
Lee told Peter and Nancy that in 1835 this vol¬ 
cano burned out completely, blowing up to such 
an extent that ashes were carried as far north 
as New Orleans, Louisiana and south to Lima, 
Peru, Only the crater remains today. 

There was no time to visit British Honduras. 
Uncle Lee said it was a low country bordering on 
the Caribbean and that it shipped mahogany, 
chicle, tortoise shell, and sponges. He pointed 
out its location on his map, to the east of Guate¬ 
mala and the peninsula of Yucatan. 

At Corinto the MacLarens boarded a train and 
rode thirty-five miles to Leon, the largest city 
in Nicaragua. 

In exploring the city, they found the streets 
and houses picturesquely Spanish. Most of the 
houses were made of adobe and many had fine 
gardens. Important events in the history of 
Nicaragua were re-enacted in the imaginations 
of Peter and Nancy as they visited the famous 
historic buildings of the city: the Church of the 
Recollection, the palace of the bishop, the forti¬ 
fied barracks built originally as a Franciscan 
monastery, and the university. 

From Leon the MacLarens went by rail to 



TWO LITTLE COUNTRIES AND A BIG ONE 207 



James Sawders 


THE CHURCH OF THE RECOLLECTION 

Managua, the capital of Nicaragua. Uncle Lee 
informed Peter and Nancy that this railway, 
which was only 175 miles long, was the only 
government-owned railway in Nicaragua. 

“And Nicaragua is the largest country in 
Central America,” Uncle Lee said. “It has 
nearly fifty thousand square miles! Although 
it extends from ocean to ocean, the people live 
in the western third of the country, the highest, 
most healthful part. You’ll notice that all the 
cities are on the Pacific slope, where most of 
Nicaragua’s 750,000 people live.” 




208 PETER AND NANCY IN CENTRAL AMERICA 


Peter and Nancy were disappointed in Ma¬ 
nagua. It was a city of narrow, cobbled streets. 
The little houses were one-storied, tinted in gay 
colors, and roofed with red tile. But the colors 
were dingy with dust, and although the city was 
located on the southern shore of Lake Managua, 
the air was hot and sticky. Dust covered every¬ 
thing from the central plaza to the side streets. 
It sifted into homes and public buildings alike, 
obliterating the colors of plaster and tiles. Even 
the imposing old cathedral faced a barren ex¬ 
panse of sand. 

“We can expect it to be hot,” Uncle Lee grum¬ 
bled, “in a town only a little over a hundred feet 
above sea level!” 

At the hotel Uncle Lee visited with the pro¬ 
prietor who boasted of his country’s future. He 
spoke of mahogany, ro.sewood, logwood, and 
sandalwood in the forests. He said there were 
limitless supplies of gums, dyes, and medicinal 
herbs. Nicaragua grew fine corn. It produced 
the best coffee, the finest sugar, and the largest 
bananas in Central America. It raised beef 
cattle that were the envy of the Argentine. Peter 
and Nancy laughed heartily with the innkeeper 
as he talked, and they decided that this Nicara¬ 
guan was both enthusiastic and progressive. 

Uncle Lee took Peter and Nancy on a horse¬ 
back trip to view Lake Nicaragua, among the 
largest bodies of fresh water in the world. It 
was. Uncle Lee said, 115 miles long. 



TWO LITTLE COUNTRIES AND A BIG ONE 


209 


“Once Nicaragua was considered a better loca¬ 
tion than Panama for a canal between the 
Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans,” Uncle Lee said. 
“Lake Nicaragua is 110 feet above sea level. 
It drains into the Caribbean Sea through the San 
Juan River. The mountain range is quite low 
between the lake and the ocean. If the San 
Juan River were dredged, ocean steamers could 
come up to the lake. Then from the lake a canal 
could be dug, a canal only eleven miles long, that 
would enable boats to pass into the Pacific.” 

“And will it be built?” Peter inquired. 

“Yes, I think so,” Uncle Lee answered. “If 
the traffic through the Panama Canal becomes 
too great, it will be built. 

“The air lines are doing a great deal for this 
country,” he went on to say. “No longer does 
Central America seem just a name. Jimmy says 
the landing field here is very good. 

“But good night, now, or we shall not be ready 
for him in the morning.” 



A RICH COAST AND COUNTRY 


J IMMY Dustin’s seaplane had been hovering 
over the placid blue Caribbean for an hour 
or more. 

“Mosquito Coast down below!” he announced. 
“And don’t ask me if it was named after that 
pest, the mosquito.” 

“We know better,” Peter boasted. “It got its 
name from the Miskitos or Mosquitoes, a race of 
mixed African and Indian blood.” 

“What’s that town, Jimmy?” asked Nancy. 
“Greytown, or San Juan del Norte,” .T imm y 
answered, circling lower. “It may be the Carib¬ 
bean terminus of the Nicaraguan Canal some 
day.” 

Greytown lay on a low, swampy shore, a small, 
unattractive town whose citizens. Uncle Lee said, 
were mostly black. 

The plane saluted, soared aloft, and finally 
came down in the harbor of Port Limon. The 
children had a brief view of a crescent-shaped 
beach whose white sand was fringed with grace¬ 
ful coconut palms. Then Jimmy made a fine 
landing. 

“At Limon, here,” Uncle Lee announced, as he 
climbed out of the cockpit and reached up for the 
luggage Peter was handing down, “we can take 
a train to San Jose, the capital. Limon happens 
210 


A RICH COAST AND COUNTRY 


211 


to be the eastern terminus of the transcontinen¬ 
tal railway. It sounds much longer than it 
actually is. Come on, Nancy. Jump!'’ 

Peter scanned the coast, with the blue water 
washing up on the white sand. It looked like 
any ordinary tropical seacoast. 

^‘Why is it called the Rich Coast?" he inquired. 
‘‘Costa Rica means ‘rich coast,' doesn't it?" 

“It furnishes turtle soup, Peter," Uncle Lee 
said solemnly. “And it gives Nancy tortoise¬ 
shell combs, and tortoise-shell jewelry. If she 
wants pink pearls, though, she'll have to look for 
them on the Pacific side." 

“How about something practical?" Peter de¬ 
manded. 

“Bananas and coffee," Jimmy put in. “More 
bananas and more coffee on the Rich Coast, ba¬ 
nanas near the sea and coffee in the hills! You'll 
find tobacco growing and cacao and rubber trees 
and vanilla beans. And you'll see cattle; many 
hides are exported. But in the end, Peter, you'll 
always have a vision of Costa Rica as a land of 
bananas and coffee." 

Uncle Lee said that the Negro people Peter 
and Nancy saw in such great numbers on the 
streets of Limon were not true Costa Ricans. 
They were British West Indians brought over 
from Jamaica to work on the plantations. 

Jimmy's prophecy proved true. From the mo¬ 
ment the train pulled out of the port with its 
square blocks and well-paved streets, until it 



212 PETEK AND NANCY IN CENTRAL AMERICA 



Ewing Galloway 

COFFEE TREES ON A PLANTATION 


reached San Jose, the scenery was enchanting. 
Peter and Nancy in a comfortable parlor car 
with wide windows began to enjoy the changing 
panorama of banana plantations, fields of sugar 
cane, dense forests of magnificent trees, and little 
thatched villages. Up, up, up climbed the train, 
leaving behind the blue rivers of the valleys and 
shunting around winding cliffs that rose above 
palm trees. 

Now there were no more banana lands, but up 
on the cool, steep hillsides grew coffee trees, the 



A RICH COAST AND COUNTRY 


213 


red berries shining in the sun. Uncle Lee said 
most of this excellent Costa Rican coffee was 
sold in European countries. 

The air was fresh and bracing. It was not 
surprising to learn that Costa Ricans mountains 
spelled vacation land for many a traveler or 
Canal Zone employee. The MacLarens realized 
that Costa Rica was mountainous everywhere 
but on the east coast. They saw several vol¬ 
canic peaks, but Uncle Lee said that nearly all 
of the little country’s twenty-three thousand 
square miles was safe from eruptions. Between 
the mountains there were lovely valleys with fine 
spots of level farmland. 

As the train reached the summit, Uncle Lee 
pointed out a mountain peak from which both the 
Atlantic and Pacific oceans could be seen. 

The train began to descend; Uncle Lee said 
it went down two thousand feet on its way 
to the capital. It stopped at Cartago, the old 
capital, a town of red-tiled roofs lying on the 
slope of the volcano Irazu. It was such a gay, 
sunny little city that Peter and Nancy could 
hardly realize that back in April, 1910, a tenth 
of the population had perished in a terrific earth¬ 
quake that shook the city. 

The train puffed into a fertile valley, running 
between small farms, and stopped at a station 
from which could be seen green-velvet mountains 
enclosing a city, the city of San Jose. 

An hour later, the MacLarens came out of a 



214 PETER AND NANCY IN CENTRAL AMERICA 


modern hotel onto a delightfully quaint street 
scene. Above the little one- and two-story Span¬ 
ish houses rose the majestic cathedral; and 
through the narrow streets plodded many teams 
of oxen, their noses almost touching the ground, 
their heavy shoulders swinging from side to side. 
As in Mexico the yoke was bound to the horns, 
but here in San Jose the driver walked ahead, 
turning back to goad the animals in their necks, 
if they were too slow. 

Nancy was most interested in the women, for 
nearly every one was as handsome as an artist’s 
portrait of a Spanish beauty, and nearly every 
one wore a large silk shawl, elaborately em¬ 
broidered and having a long, rich fringe. Even 
the poorest women going about barefoot wore 
shawls of rich fabric and gleaming colors. 

On a horseback ride into the country with 
Uncle Lee, Peter and Nancy saw the Costa Ricans 
at work among the coffee trees. They seemed 
to be the busiest, happiest people they had seen 
in Central America. 

“Costa Rica was settled by people from Galicia 
in northwestern Spain, hard-working farmers 
who loved peace and plenty,” Uncle Lee ex¬ 
plained. “Eighty per cent of these people are 
pure Spanish. Salvador and Costa Rica may be 
the two smallest republics on the American con¬ 
tinent, but they are also the most progressive.” 

As the three riders returned to San Jose, 
Uncle Lee told Peter and Nancy of the fine 



A RICH COAST AND COUNTRY 


215 


Costa Rican people. They had refused to join 
the other Central American countries in a fed¬ 
eration because they knew they could get along 
better by themselves. They did not care, for 
instance, to be embroiled in Nicaragua’s frequent 
revolutions. 

“Five-sixths of Costa Rica is still forest and 
jungle,” Uncle Lee declared. “The four big cities 
of the country are all connected by this wagon 
road on which we are riding, and it’s only about 
thirty miles long.” 

Back in San Jose the MacLarens spent a day 
resting and making plans for the trip to Panama. 



OLD GLORY IN PANAMA 


T he MacLarens were enjoying themselves in 
Jimmy Dustin’s seaplane. To them it was 
quite as wonderful as the Clipper Ship that some 
of their tourist friends had taken in Salvador. 

“We can’t very well leave Central America 
without seeing Panama,” Peter declared. “After 
all, Panama is one of the most important coun¬ 
tries in Central America.” 

“Not only because of its canal,” Nancy added, 
“but because the Stars and Stripes fly over the 
Panama Canal Zone.” 

“You’re not very good navigators,” Jimmy 
teased. “If you were, you’d realize that I’m Pan¬ 
ama bound right now. That water below is the 
Pacific. If you insist on seeing a little country 
smaller than the state of Indiana, it’s all right 
with me. Uncle Lee is certainly indulgent. 
You’ve been through the canal before—when you 
visited South America.” 

“Look below!” Uncle Lee shouted. “There’s a 
steamer bound for San Francisco. That should 
help you youngsters to orient yourselves.” 

The dry Pacific coast, in startling contrast to 
the tropical vegetation they had left behind, gave 
way to the blue water of the Gulf of Panama. 
The plane came to rest in the port of Balboa, at 
the Pacific end of the canal. 


216 


OLD GLORY IN PANAMA 


217 


“Old Glory!” Peter shouted, as the plane 
floated in to shore, towed by a launch. “There 
it is, flying over the public buildings and the 
warehouses as well!” 

“Ancon Hill!” Uncle Lee pointed upward. “Our 
flag floats over the hospital there. The great 
hotels take pride in displaying it, too.” 

To the east lay the city of Panama, the capital 
of the Panama republic. 

“We’ll spend a day in the city,” Uncle Lee 
promised. “The great canal is right at its front 
porch, you might say.” 

“Then we’ll climb up and over into the Carib¬ 
bean Sea,” Peter added. “Uncle Lee, may we 
go to the old Central Hotel? I’d like to see a 
room where the miners stored their sacks of 
gold back in 1849. It would have been exciting 
to live here then, in the days of pirates.” 

Late that afternoon, after depositing their lug¬ 
gage at an hotel, the MacLaren party went over 
to Central Park, or Independence Square, to watch 
the colorful crowds of Panama City and to listen 
to the band. Peter readily recognized Hindus 
with white-turbaned heads, and Nancy pointed 
out slant-eyed Orientals in loose black coats and 
wide pantaloons. Jimmy said that the kinky- 
headed Negroes with the gleaming smiles were 
probably descendants of the Cimarron slaves. 
Their ancestors, he declared, were brought over 
from Africa long ago by the Spaniards, to be 
sold as slaves. But the ships in which these 



218 PETER AND NANCY IN CENTRAL AMERICA 


Negroes were prisoners were wrecked, and the 
Cimarrons escaped into the jungle. Less excit¬ 
ing was the story of the Jamaica Negroes who 
came from their island to live in the fertile jungle 
where clothes were not needed and food was 
plentiful. 

^That man isn’t a Negro.” Nancy indicated a 
tall, bronze figure in a queer, loose skirt. ‘‘He looks 
like an Indian.” 

“Good guess!” Jimmy agreed. “He happens 
to be dressed in the modern way. Most of the 
Indians near Darien Bay go about in loin cloths 
made of animal skins.” 

“Like Tarzan of the Apes,” Peter supplied. 

“Almost,” Jimmy agreed. “I wish we might 
be poled up the Turia River in a 'piragua or dug- 
out canoe. Nancy could sit under the roof of the 
little hut that is always built in the middle of the 
boat, and she would see tall coconut palms, giant 
ferns, and wild animals. The Indians make pets 
of the sloths often, but they kill the giant lizards 
or iguanas for the meat in their tails. 

“There are little villages up there where the 
houses are built on stilts ten feet high,” Jimmy 
continued. “The stilts keep the wild animals 
from coming too close in dry weather and keep 
floods from deluging the house in the wet season. 
It’s not very pleasant to have some wild animal 
use your bedroom for a lair!” 

“Let’s walk down to the bay and take a look at 
the boats,” Uncle Lee suggested. 



OLD GLORY IN PANAMA 


219 



THE IGUANA OR GIANT LIZARD 


The bay of Panama was full of sailboats bob¬ 
bing about like corks on the choppy waves. The 
natives, who Uncle Lee said were half-breeds, 
were busy unloading produce from their own 
particular boats. Bananas, coconuts, pawpaws, 
and dried nuts began to form great piles on the 
wharves beside live chickens and squealing pigs. 
Good-natured laughter rose on all sides. 

‘^Some of those fellows,’’ Jimmy guessed, '‘may 
have come down from as far as the Chucunaque 
River. It’s a very rough and tumble sort of river, 
and the village of El Real up there is a decidedly 
primitive town. It’s built on a small peninsula 




220 PETER AND NANCY IN CENTRAL AMERICA 


and is the oldest settlement on the Pacific side of 
the mountains. It is a nice clean little village 
where the main street is edged with grass huts.’' 

^Td like to see the huts,” Nancy decided. 

‘^They’re beautifully made,” Jimmy informed 
her. ‘‘The women lace the leaves of the fan palm 
together to make remarkable roofs. The knots 
are all on the inside of the hut. The cracks are 
filled with grasses. The outside of one of those 
huts is smooth and waterproof, and you’d be sur¬ 
prised how cool it is on the inside. Those primi¬ 
tive people have their own system of insulation 
and air conditioning.” 

A long walk about Panama revealed nothing 
of the city’s early life except the old walls that 
once had helped to protect the citizens from the 
pirates who threatened their peace. Along paved 
streets where the clang of the streetcars was 
common, the city was ablaze with electric lights 
at dusk. Among the many fine public buildings, 
which included the university, none was so at¬ 
tractive to Peter and Nancy as the old Cathedral 
of San Jose with its twin towers. 

“Do you want to see the golden altar?” Uncle 
Lee asked and led his eager companions into the 
quiet church. 

There were fine old mural paintings on the 
walls, but the eyes of Peter and Nancy were fixed 
upon the golden altar that shone like sunlight. 
Uncle Lee had already told them of the altar’s 
history, also of another of Panama’s most valu- 



OLD GLORY IN PANAMA 


221 


able relics, a solid gold cross. When Morgan, the 
pirate, had come to destroy the town, the faith¬ 
ful church people had put out to sea. There 
they stayed several weeks, returning to find the 
town in ashes and the survivors starting a new 
city five miles from the old one. The altar and 
cross had been painted white so as not to attract 
the pirates. They remained painted until 1904 
when the Panama Canal Zone came under Ameri¬ 
can control. 

Jimmy returned to Balboa and his plane, but 
the MacLarens went through the great Panama 
Canal by boat. They left Balboa early in the 
morning on a fine, large passenger steamer. 

“Only fifty miles from the deep water of the 
Pacific Ocean to the deep water of the Atlantic!” 
Uncle Lee marveled as the three took their places 
in their deck chairs and prepared to enjoy the 
trip. “Nor does it seem possible that until 
August, 1914, this little strip of land connecting 
North and South America should have blocked the 
commerce of the world.” 

Peter and Nancy, squinting into the bright 
sunlight, begged Uncle Lee to refresh their mem¬ 
ories with the story of the building of the great 
canal. Uncle Lee needed no encouragement. He 
was very proud of his country’s part in the his¬ 
tory of Panama. As Nancy said, one could 
almost see the Stars and Stripes waving as Uncle 
Lee talked. 

Uncle Lee began his story with the account 



222 PETER AND NANCY IN CENTRAL AMERICA 


of how the great Ferdinand de Lesseps, the man 
who had dug the Suez Canal, undertook the pro¬ 
ject. He seemed the best qualified man in the 
world for such a task. But digging a canal 
through flat desert land and digging a canal 
through a stubborn mountain range were widely 
diiferent jobs. The French government, however, 
spent several million dollars before becoming dis¬ 
couraged. Finally a new French company sold 
its right to build the canal to the United States 
for forty million dollars. 

“Then things began to happen,” Peter put in. 
“Colombia wouldn’t agree to our building the 
canal. Panama declared its independence, and, 
by treaty with Panama, we acquired our ten- 
mile strip called the Canal Zone.” 

“And we dug the canal right through the 
middle of it,” Nancy continued. “Because our 
engineers knew a sea-level canal wouldn’t do, they 
built a lock canal. It is like going up and down 
a water stairway.” 

“Remember,” Uncle Lee reminded Peter and 
Nancy, “that it required many millions of dol¬ 
lars to build this canal. Remember, too, what 
an undertaking it was, cutting down and blasting 
out the earth and rock of the Gaillard Cut 
through the mountains, and damming the Cha- 
gres River. The famous dam, as you already 
know, is the Gatun Dam, and the lake is Gatun 
Lake. The water of Gatun Lake flows through 
the pass and fills the locks so that the ships may 



OLD GLORY IN PANAMA 


223 



Ewing Galloway 


THE PEDRO MIGUEL LOCKS OF THE PANAMA CANAL 

be raised and lowered. Do you know the engineer 
who did the planning?” 

“Goethals!” Peter shouted. 

“George Washington Goethals!” Nancy added. 
She got to her feet. 

“Look!” she cried. “There’s a guide drawing 
up a bucket of water from the side of the ship. 
I suppose those tourists want to taste it. Come 
on, Peter!” 

The guide was explaining to his party of Amer¬ 
icans that they were about to cross a great fresh- 




224 PETER AND NANCY IN CENTRAL AMERICA 


water bridge. He begged them to taste the water 
in the bucket and even passed out some little 
paper cups. Peter and Nancy grinned at each 
other like world-old travelers, but they tasted 
the water with the rest. It was salty and bitter. 

''Wait till we get to Miraflores!^’ the guide 
prophesied. "There you will find clear, pure 
water from the mountains 

Later on that day the ship was raised to fresh, 
crystal-clear Lake Miraflores and passed through 
eight-mile-long Gaillard Cut. Then after travers¬ 
ing the twenty-four miles of Gatun Lake the ves¬ 
sel dropped down through the Gatun Locks and 
headed for the salty Atlantic. 

"Only seven miles from Gatun Locks to the 
ocean Peter exulted. "We’ll soon be in Cris¬ 
tobal, our Atlantic port. I hope Jimmy will be 
there.” 



ODD WAYS IN THE CARIBBEAN 


^^nriHE West Indies! There^s a misnomer for 

X you/’ Jimmy Dustin observed as he warmed 
up his motor on the beach at Cristobal before 
taking off. He glanced back at the MacLarens in 
the cockpit and grinned. ''As every school child 
knows, Christopher Columbus thought he had 
reached India when he landed on San Salvador. 
But what every school child does not know is that 
in the Caribbean—especially in the Virgin 
Islands, owned by Uncle Sam—bluefish are red, 
cherries grow on bushes, and gooseberries are 
found on trees.” 

"Yes?” Nancy raised an eyebrow, suspiciously. 

"Certainly. I’ve been there,” Uncle Lee put in. 
"Breakfast invariably means lunch, and people 
say good evening in the afternoon.” 

"Oh, you two!” Nancy scoffed. "You can’t 
tell me that a little geographical distance would 
make such a difference. Why, the West Indies 
lie between Florida on the north, Yucatan on the 
west, and the coast of South America on the 
south. The trade routes are quite familiar. I 
never heard such stories.” 

"You’ll hear a great deal more of the West 
Indies in the future.” Uncle Lee was more seri¬ 
ous now. "The building of the Panama Canal, 
the development of South America, and the new 


225 


226 


PETER AND NANCY IN THE WEST INDIES 


knowledge of tropical products are all going to 
make the West Indies important to commerce. 
Since the United States and Great Britain own 
many of the islands, there should be a fine friend¬ 
ship between the English-speaking peoples in the 
Caribbean.” 

“Port-of-Spain is our first call,” Jimmy an¬ 
nounced as he took off. 

Uncle Lee reached over and laid a folder down 
before Peter and Nancy who sat side by side. 

“Glance that over!” he suggested. “It’s a fine 
map of the West Indies. There’s Cuba and Ja¬ 
maica, Hispaniola, and Puerto Rico, which form 
the Greater Antilles. That group of smaller 
islands, stretching from Puerto Rico to the main¬ 
land of South America, make up the Lesser An¬ 
tilles. Jamaica belongs to the British. As you 
know, Cuba is independent. So is Hispaniola.” 

“And Puerto Rico belongs to us,” Nancy added. 

The plane droned on above a green sea along 
the north coast of South America, coming down 
at Port-of-Spain for refueling, only to take off 
for Martinique. 

“What kind of people live in Trinidad?” asked 
Nancy as the plane rose in the air. 

“About a third of the people on the island are 
Hindus,” replied Uncle Lee. “The upper classes 
of the remaining group are creoles of British, 
French, and Spanish blood. The lower classes 
are of Negro or mixed Negro origin, with a few 
Chinese.” 



ODD WAYS IN THE CARIBBEAN 


227 



A HINDU FAMILY IN TRINIDAD 


The MacLarens looked down upon a gorgeous 
tropical island over which towered Mount Pelee. 
So this was Martinique! 

Jimmy landed and escorted his friends through 
the French capital, Fort-de-France. It proved 




228 


PETER AND NANCY IN THE WEST INDIES 


to be a quaint little town, almost like a country 
village, with its peaked roofs, its central square 
where the crowds gathered during leisure hours, 
and its barefooted women and children running 
after street venders. These good-natured fellows 
sold milk and confections. The happy citizens 
were, for the most part, black, and the women 
wore bright-colored fichus and skirts. Nowhere 
had Peter and Nancy seen a gayer, more care¬ 
free lot of people. As for the children, they 
danced happily about the visitors, curious but 
polite. 

The two rivers between which the town had 
been built were named Monsieur and Madam. 
Very easy to remember! Easy to remember, too, 
was the marble statue of the Empress Josephine, 
first wife of Napoleon Bonaparte, in the middle 
of the public square. The people of Martinique 
were proud of the fact that the empress had been 
born on their little island. 

Jimmy said that at the other end of the island 
could be seen the ruins of the city destroyed in 
1902 by the eruption of Mount Pelee. Tourists 
were attracted by the volcanic specimens, but 
Jimmy said that the magenta bougainvillea that 
spread over the tumble-down houses was just 
as well worth seeing. 

Jimmy brought his plane down at San Juan, 
the capital and largest city of the island of Puerto 
Rico. The second largest city, Ponce, he ex¬ 
plained, was on the south. 



ODD WAYS IN THE CARIBBEAN 


229 



Ewing Galloway 

TOBACCO PLANTS UNDEE NETTING 


The MacLarens found the weather warm but 
not uncomfortable. They walked uptown, crowd¬ 
ing along on the sidewalks. They saw many 
laden donkeys and burdened black men. 

Outside the town were miles and miles of 
waving sugar cane. There were numerous to¬ 
bacco farms. White netting protected the plants 
from the direct rays of the sun. Uncle Lee ex¬ 
plained that the tobacco growers protected their 
plants in this way so that the tobacco would have 
a mild flavor. There was an air of lively pros¬ 
perity that was surprising on a southern island. 

“The United States has done a great deal to 
help Puerto Rico since it was ceded to us by Spain 




230 


PETER AND NANCY IN THE WEST INDIES 


in 1898,” Uncle Lee remarked. ^WeVe established 
schools, built roads, and improved the railroads. 
The farmers raise tobacco, coffee, cotton, and all 
sorts of tropical fruits and vegetables in addition 
to sugar. There’s a ready market in the United 
States for the winter-grown fruits and vege¬ 
tables.” 

Jimmy persuaded the MacLarens to leave the 
busy wharf where Puerto Rican products were 
being loaded on ships for export, and again his 
plane rose, this time its destination being Port- 
au-Prince, the capital of Haiti. 

‘Tort-au-Prince is a real city now,” Jimmy 
volunteered. ^There are more than a hundred 
thousand people here and it’s one of the health¬ 
iest spots in the West Indies.” 

Port-au-Prince, the capital of the Black Re¬ 
public of Haiti, proved to be one of the strangest 
cities the MacLarens had ever visited. For 
one thing, the people were Negroes who spoke 
French. There were. Uncle Lee said, 2,500,000 
of them, and they occupied the western third 
of the island of Hispaniola. They worshiped 
black saints in a huge yellowish cathedral and 
indulged in the sport of cock fighting, but on 
the streets there were many beauty parlors and 
cafes, while men marched along with golf clubs 
and tennis rackets. There was also much talk 
of horse racing. The Franco-Latin architecture 
was appropriate and beautiful in this city of 
sunshine and roses. The MacLarens strolled 



ODD WAYS IN THE CARIBBEAN 


231 



James Sawders 


A STREET IN PORT-AU-PRINCE 


about the city, enjoying the busy crowds, and 
later Uncle Lee hired a carriage to show Peter 
and Nancy the stately homes of some of the black 
aristocrats. Turrets and arbored patios gave 
dignity to houses from whose gardens the odor 
of jasmine often perfumed the air. 

But a city was a city. The true life of the 
people could best be studied in the country. Uncle 
Lee maintained. On the road along which Uncle 
Lee drove with Peter and Nancy walked many 
straight, fine-looking black men and women. Don- 




232 


PETER AND NANCY IN THE WEST INDIES 


keys and mules were much more common than 
cars or carriages. 

Nancy called out to Peter to watch a woman 
who was washing her clothes on the bank of a 
shallow stream. The MacLarens got out of the 
carriage and walked up one of the little lanes 
that opened off the main road. They came to a 
clay-thatched hut, set among fruit trees. 

^This squatter’s cabin,” Uncle Lee observed, 
‘hs part of the real backbone of Haiti. While poli¬ 
ticians scheme and make war, the native Haitian 
is self-sufficient. He has, you will notice, his 
flowering banana plant, his mango tree, his coffee 
shrub, and his garden plot where he grows his 
red beans. Over there you see his cow, munching 
coarse grass contentedly, and those pigs and 
chickens are his, too.” 

When Nancy saw the big family of black chil¬ 
dren, she wondered where the various members 
of the family slept at night. The hut, at best, 
could not have more than two small rooms. Uncle 
Lee explained that the turf outside made a good 
bed. 

They got back into the carriage, and the two 
old horses presently brought the party to a 
market square. 

''We’ll find markets all over the island,” Uncle 
Lee explained. "It is said that where there are 
a hundred people in Haiti there is a market. The 
native would rather bargain than eat. It is his 
most enjoyable pastime.” 



ODD WAYS IN THE CARIBBEAN 


233 


This particular market was a simple affair. 
There were no booths or tables. The sellers sim¬ 
ply squatted on the ground and spread out their 
wares. Peter and Nancy walked between piles 
of oranges, breadfruit, dried nuts, and pawpaws. 
They examined crude pottery. They side-stepped 
live pigs and chickens and were offered fish and 
wilting vegetables. Some of the women were 
selling tallow, lard, and coconut oil. There were 
homemade cassava cookies and candies that Peter 
sampled, but Nancy contented herself with some 
lovely hibiscus flowers. Uncle Lee pointed out 
various herbs that were being sold as medicine. 

Back in Port-au-Prince, the MacLarens joined 
Jimmy in a garden cafe where they enjoyed a 
French dinner that included ice cream. 

After a restful night in a modern hotel, they 
decided to visit the Dominican Republic which 
occupied the eastern two-thirds of the island of 
Hispaniola. 

“The peoples of the two countries are quite 
different,” Uncle Lee announced at breakfast. 
“As you know, the people of Haiti are Negroes 
who speak French. Most of the people in the 
Dominican Republic are a mixed race, descend¬ 
ants of the natives, the early Spanish conquerors, 
and the Negroes. They speak Spanish!” 

“The products are different as to quantity at 
least,” Jimmy put in. “You’ll see coffee trees all 
over Haiti, and it’s well known that Haiti ships 
out over a million pounds of coffee a year. The 



234 


PETER AND NANCY IN THE WEST INDIES 



James Sawders 

NANCY LIKED THE LOVELY HIBISCUS FLOWERS 

Dominican Eepublic is most famous for its sugar. 
By the way, my plane won’t be ready for some 
hours yet. I suggest that you make the trip to 
Santo Domingo by boat. There’s a good little 
passenger steamer leaving very soon.^’ 

Within half an hour the MacLarens were 





ODD WAYS IN THE CARIBBEAN 


235 


standing at the rail of the small steamer Jimmy 
had recommended, watching Poii;-au-Prince fade 
away. The sea was very blue, and the sun very 
bright. 

Peter and Nancy strove to catch a glimpse of 
Santo Domingo City, now called Ciudad Trujillo. 
But it was not until the boat had made its way 
around a high clilf that jutted out into the Carib¬ 
bean that they suddenly saw the whole city rising 
from the coral cliffs and spreading out over the 
low hills. Uncle Lee said that farther inland 
were high mountains. But the city held the 
children’s interest, the oldest city in the Western 
Hemisphere founded by Europeans. It was in 
1496, just four years after America was dis¬ 
covered, Uncle Lee told them, that a band of 
Spanish colonists had settled there. 

The MacLarens followed the passengers down 
the gangplank and walked ashore at a spot not 
far from where Columbus had landed. The 
ancient main gate of the city lay ahead, and 
through it pressed the motley traffic. There were 
cars, ponies, donkeys, wagons, and pedestrians 
black and white, invariably laden with bundles. 
On the wagons red peppers glowed, jute sacks 
rose in piles, and pineapples and melons were 
seen in containers. 

The new buildings of Spanish architecture, as 
well as the old, seemed a part of the past, for 
they fitted into their surroundings as though 
they had always been there. Turning a corner. 



236 


PETER AND NANCY IN THE WEST INDIES 


the MacLarens came, quite unexpectedly, upon 
a central plaza. Its paths were fragrant with 
tropical bloom and alive with color. Comfortable 
marble benches invited the newcomers, but Peter 
and Nancy broke away from Uncle Lee to run 
toward the statue of Columbus in the center of 
the plaza. The gesture of the great conqueror 
bespoke pride in Ciudad Trujillo, and the lifelike 
figures of the Indians at the base added to the 
dignity and beauty of the monument. 

Behind the memorial stood the Cathedral of 
Santo Domingo. Uncle Lee said that the archi¬ 
tecture was Spanish Renaissance, and its lovely 
design placed it among the best of the early 
churches. 

Passing through the shadowy entrance, the 
MacLarens gazed long upon the white marble 
tomb where the remains of Columbus had lain. 

^Uolumbus could have been enshrined in no 
lovelier place,’' Nancy decided, and Peter and 
Uncle Lee agreed. 

^^But Spain claimed her famous explorer,” 
Uncle Lee added. ^‘After the Spanish-American 
War, the remains of Columbus were transferred 
to Seville where they have been enshrined per¬ 
manently.” 



ISLES OF ENCHANTMENT 

“ T AMAICA,” Uncle Lee observed, as Peter and 
t) Nancy sat on the white sand at Trujillo 
and watched the green water curl into white 
foam on the beach, “has fine harbors, sixteen in 
all. Its climate is almost perfect, and its plains 
are exceptionally fertile.” 

He scanned the horizon for sight of Jimmy 
Dustin’s plane which he expected any minute. 

“Plains!” Peter scoffed. “I thought there were 
green mountains in Jamaica—and jungles.” 

“There are,” Uncle Lee agreed affably. “But 
mountains do not preclude plains, do they?” 

“Here comes Jimmy!” Nancy shouted. “You 
two may as well stop arguing. We’ll see what 
Jamaica is like in a few hours.” 

The MacLaren party made a glorious trip over 
blue-green water with Jimmy Dustin and landed 
on a white sand beach not far from Kingston. 
Kingston lay on the south coast in the eastern 
part of the island, a fine and beautiful city. 

The one fact that impressed Peter and Nancy 
more than anything else, as they strolled about 
the streets of the capital of Jamaica, was that it 
was definitely English; English in architecture, 
in landscape gardening, and in law-abiding order. 
In sharp contrast to the colored people who ambled 
along on their way to the market or to plantations 
237 


238 


PETER AND NANCY IN THE WEST INDIES 


were the English bobbies in their immaculate 
white uniforms. 

Uncle Lee told the children that an earthquake 
in 1907 had almost destroyed Kingston. They 
could hardly believe it, although the buildings 
did look very new in contrast to the other places 
the MacLarens had visited. Uncle Lee added 
that, in rebuilding the city, special plans were 
used to make the buildings earthquake proof. 

The business places were smart, the white 
population much like that seen on any metro¬ 
politan street, and the homes of the wealthy 
most attractive. There were many picturesque 
Tudor homes, but the children were more in¬ 
terested in the tumble-down huts on the outskirts 
of the city. 

Over a fine road the MacLarens drove out to 
view Spanish Town, once the capital of Jamaica. 
They walked in the stately ruins of King’s House. 
They sat for a while in the cool quiet of the 
cathedral, and then strolled through the plaza. 
Peter contemplated the Hanging Tree where 
many a pirate had swung in the early days. 

“Uncle Lee, you were right,” Peter admitted 
as the car turned off on a country road. “There 
are plains back from the town, plains that run 
into the hill country. What wonderful far ms !” 

The farms offered a wide variety of produce: 
bananas and coconuts on vast plantations, and 
pineapples, oranges, and limes on less extensive 
estates. Uncle Lee said that in the interior the 



ISLES OF ENCHANTMENT 


239 



jij'vu'my vxcti'C'Vwu'if 

CARRYING BANANAS TO MARKET 


logwood tree grew luxuriantly, and while the 
wood is exported, the making of logwood extract 
for dye is a valuable industry. There were great 
fields of sugar cane, uplands where coffee trees 
grew, and a number of cacao bushes, as well as 
cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice trees. 

“Allspice trees?” asked Peter. “I thought all¬ 
spice was cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg ground 
together. 

''Tastes like it,'' answered Uncle Lee, "but all¬ 
spice comes from a little berry that grows on an 
evergreen tree called pimento or allspice, ihe 





240 


PETER AND NANCY IN THE WEST INDIES 


berries are picked green, dried, and their two 
little brown seeds, when ground, make the all¬ 
spice that is used for seasoning. Lots of ginger 
is exported, too.” 

The entire country was a sea of brilliant green 
color. Everywhere Negroes carried produce on 
their heads, walking erect. 

“Everything under the sun is here!” Peter 
exulted. “Jimmy says you can even get salt along 
the coast.” 

“Any ocean coast has salt,” Nancy affirmed. 
“That doesn’t make salt a commercial product.” 

“It does here,” Peter maintained. “Jamaica 
exports at least a million bushels a year. Jimmy 
says so.” 

Before leaving Jamaica, the MacLarens and 
Jimmy made a back-country trip. That trip was 
full of delightful surprises. They visited cold 
and hot springs, viewed fairylike waterfalls, and 
walked along the cliffs of steep gorges. They 
made a trek into the jungle where they stared up 
at the jungle growth and exclaimed at the ex¬ 
quisite orchids hanging in the trees. Returning 
to Kingston, they visited the Hope Gardens and 
saw in the conservatories and outdoor gardens 
the very plants and trees they had seen growing 
wild. 

“Havana, Cuba!” Jimmy was preparing to 
take off with the MacLarens from Kingston. “It 
is one of the gay cities of the Western Hemi¬ 
sphere !” 



ISLES OF ENCHANTMENT 


241 


^'Cuba is our sugar bowl!’’ Peter added dryly. 
‘That’s the first thing I ever learned in school 
about it. We could depend on Cuba for sugar and 
tobacco. Many of our manufacturers use tobacco 
grown in Cuba in making their good cigars, the 
kind you could give away at Christmas. I read 
that the finest tobacco in the world is grown in 
Cuba.” 

“Anyway, Cuba is the biggest and most im¬ 
portant island of the West Indies,” Jimmy con¬ 
cluded. “In its landlocked bays are very fine 
harbors. Its mountain streams, tumbling down 
through rich valleys, are delightful to see. And 
when you come to Havana, you’ll see a city that 
will stand comparison with any city on earth.” 

“You ought to write travel folders, Jimmy,” 
Nancy teased. “Why didn’t we keep such a re¬ 
markable possession as Jimmy describes, Uncle 
Lee?” 

Uncle Lee hesitated. 

“Spain surrendered Cuba to the United States 
in 1898,” he began. “We improved her schools, 
built roads, and developed her industries. We 
made her see what she had: sugar, tobacco, trop¬ 
ical fruits, and vegetables. Then there were hard¬ 
woods and metals such as copper, manganese, and 
iron. We taught her to use asphalt ^ for her 
roads. Like a good neighbor and friend, we 
helped her get on her feet. Then we withdrew 
our soldiers from her soil when she chose to 
become an independent republic.” 



242 


PETER AND NANCY IN THE WEST INDIES 



James Sawders 


THE CAPITOL BUILDING IN HAVANA 

“At school last year we had a moving picture 
about Cuba,” Peter said. “It showed some of the 
improvements that were made in Cuba while the 
island was held ‘in trust’ by the United States.” 

Jimmy brought his plane down at Havana, 
after circling over the city. Peter and Nancy 
were amazed at its size, and at the handsome, 
modern buildings. 

“A seventh of all the people of Cuba live in 
Havana,” explained Uncle Lee. “Rich planters 
who own these great country places often have 
a town residence, too, and nearly everybody at 






ISLES OF ENCHANTMENT 


243 


some time or other has business in Havana, the 
capital.” 

The Prado, a boulevard park in the shopping 
district, became the scene of a daily walk during 
the week the MacLaren party remained in 
Havana. Peter spent much time with Jimmy 
down on the wharves watching the stevedores 
load sugar, tobacco, and cigars. The entire party 
spent half a day in a great cigar factory where 
hundreds of workmen rolled cigars in a large 
room. In the center was a platform on which 
a man sat reading in Spanish. The MacLarens 
were told that the laborers contributed a few 
cents a week to hire this man to read to them 
while they worked. He usually began with the 
morning paper and then read magazines or books 
all day. Peter and Nancy could not understand 
a word but they thought it was a good idea. It 
kept the work from being monotonous. 

“Sugar and tobacco!” Peter decided. “And 
tobacco and sugar! That’s Cuba! It’s the 
world’s sugar bowl, all right!” 

“Cuba, and India, too,” Uncle Lee amended. 
“India has helped to fill the world’s sugar bowl, 
too. The two countries have been rivals for 
years, often with Cuba leading. By the way, 
remember that the sugar comes from the eastern 
half of the island, and tobacco comes from the 
western part. The Cubans say that tobacco is 
king and sugar is queen.” 

The wealth of the city of Havana was ap- 



244 


PETER AND NANCY IN THE WEST INDIES 



James Sawders 

HAULING SUGAR CANE TO THE MILL 


parent, not only in the thriving shopping dis¬ 
tricts but in the residential districts as well. 
There were palatial homes with their patios and 
gardens hidden behind stucco walls. In the older 
part of the city the streets were crooked and so 
very narrow that a person on one of the over¬ 
hanging balconies could easily shake hands with 
someone on the balcony opposite. Everywhere 
Spanish architecture was evident in latticed win¬ 
dows, wrought-iron balconies, and heavy, carved 
doors. Rose and jasmine perfume filled the air. 

When the afternoon siesta was over, the city 




ISLES OF ENCHANTMENT 


245 



MORRO CASTLE AT HAVANA 

would come to life. The sidewalk cafes would 
begin to fill, and the shops would begin to sell 
French perfumes, laces, and jewels across their 
counters, along with more utilitarian merchandise. 

Each evening the MacLarens drove along the 
Prado or out upon the beautiful Malecon drive. 
One morning they visited Morro Castle, which 
looked as though it were still grimly defending 
the town, and afterward they swam out from the 
beach with hundreds of vacationists who were 
enjoying life as never before. 

But Jimmy Dustin kept saying that the plane 







246 


PETER AND NANCY IN THE WEST INDIES 


was ready to go, and Uncle Lee reluctantly 
admitted that he had business to look after in 
Florida. 

Nassau in the Bahamas was to be the last 
stop before the homeward flight. 

“The fashionable Bahamas,” Jimmy called the 
islands, and added, “Nassau is an all-year pleas¬ 
ure resort. This trip seems to be ending in play 
rather than study.” 

Peter and Nancy laughed, for they knew that 
the Isles of Enchantment in the Caribbean had 
given them much food for thought as well as 
enjoyment. 

As the plane soared above the Bahamas, Peter 
and Nancy expressed amazement at the number 
of little islands that comprised the group. Uncle 
Lee told them that there were about twenty-nine 
islands, and three thousand bays and islets. Some 
of the islands were too small to live on, and many 
were just large enough for a plantation or two. 
There were villages on some of the islands. 
Usually these little villages were near orange or 
pineapple plantations. 

“A great deal of sisal fiber is produced in the 
islands,” Uncle Lee remarked. “And remember 
that the Bahamas are coral islands. Millions of 
little coral animals produced these reefs over a 
period of many years.” 

Jimmy brought his plane down near the 
wharves of Nassau, the chief city of the Ba¬ 
hamas. The wharves were piled high with sisal 



ISLES OF ENCHANTMENT 


247 



WEAVING SISAL FIBERS INTO HATS AND BAGS 

fiber in dark brown bundles, green oranges, 
large pineapples, crates of tomatoes, and sponges. 
Nancy stepped away from some large turtles that 
had been turned over on their backs to prevent 
their getting away. 

Peter said, “Turtle soup!’’ and he, too, backed 

away. ^ ^ i 

The beaches were of white sand and pink- 
tinged coral, and the clear green water broke into 
white foam at the children’s feet. Farther out 
the water appeared rose and orange and lavender. 




248 


PETER AND NANCY IN THE WEST INDIES 


Nassau, the MacLarens were to learn, is noted 
for its gorgeous colors and for its sunsets. 

In contrast to the busy wharves the city seemed 
singularly quiet, especially as evening drew near. 
The sound of the surf could still be heard, and 
there was a whispering in the swaying palms. An 
atmosphere of peace enveloped the island. Even 
the ruins of the fortresses spoke of a forgotten 
past when pirates swarmed the seas and overran 
the island. But the memories were dim. The 
crystal caves and the sea gardens that could be 
viewed in glass-bottomed boats belonged to the 
morrow for the MacLarens. 

Two days later, refreshed, stimulated, and 
happy, the MacLaren party in Jimmy Dustin’s 
little plane rose over the fragrant, lovely island 
to sail above sparkling waters toward home. 



FISHES, APPLES, AND FOXES 


T he world was a sea of white fog as Jimmy 
Dustin flew steadily northward. The three 
MacLarens, Peter, Nancy, and Uncle Lee, seated 
in the tiny cabin behind Jimmy Dustin, huddled 
together in the cold. 

“It’s a good thing I had these new instruments 
installed before we left Miami,” Jimmy re¬ 
marked. “When we stopped to refuel at Newark, 
the mechanic said they were in perfect working 
order. I hope he was right because I’m flying by 
them. We’re near Halifax, I’m sure.” 

Soon the fog broke, and from the low-flying 
plane Peter and Nancy saw a land of small, 
rounded hills and broad valleys such as they had 
seen in New England. Uncle Lee explained that 
in this oldest part of the continent weather had 
worn down what were once mountain peaks, filled 
up valleys, and carried much silt to the sea to 
make more land. 

^^TinibGr is plGntiful horG 8<nd lurnDGring is bji 
important industry,” Jimmy explained, “yet most 
of the inhabitants are not lumbermen but fisher¬ 
men. There must be fifty thousand of them. 
When you eat creamed codfish on your baked 
potatoes next winter, remember Nova Scotia! 

The plane droned on and Jimmy announced, 
“We’re flying along the southeastern coast. 

249 


250 


PETER AND NANCY IN CANADA 



Ewing Galloway 

PREPARING CODFISH FOR DRYING 

^^Look below!” Peter exclaimed suddenly. 
big city with dozens of ships in the harbor!” 

^‘Halifax!” Jimmy shouted. ^It is the largest 
city of the Maritime Provinces and lies closer to 
England than any port on the Canadian main¬ 
land.” 

^‘Maritime?” Nancy wrinkled her brow. 

^‘Maritime, of course,” Peter spoke up. ^That 
means ^bordering on the sea.^ There’s Nova 
Scotia with Cape Breton Island, New Brunswick, 
and Prince Edward Island.” 

^^Brilliant geographer!” Uncle Lee pronounced. 




FISHES, APPLES, AND FOXES 


251 



Ewing Galloway 


THE WATERFRONT IN HALIFAX 

The plane descended into a splendid harbor 
on whose placid waters great ocean-going liners 
nosed up against big freighters and fishing 
schooners. There were many sailors on the 
docks, but few soldiers. Uncle Lee said that 
Halifax had once been an important military 
city, but that it was no longer garrisoned as it 

used to be. , i . 

“The chief British military and naval station in 
Canada is here in Halifax,” Uncle Lee continued. 
“Now, however, the principal interests are com¬ 
merce and shipping. 








252 


PETER AND NANCY IN CANADA 


''In the early days Nova Scotia’s shipbuilding 
yards were crowded with wooden ships; her skip¬ 
pers in their sailing vessels sailed all over the 
seven seas, and Canada became for a time the 
fourth maritime nation in the world. Among the 
city’s greatest sons was Samuel Cunard who 
founded the first regular steamship service across 
the Atlantic.” 

Ashore Peter and Nancy looked about in 
amazement at the great quantities of freight 
piled up on the wharves. A small boy who had 
seen the MacLaren party land said, "Hello, bird- 
lings!” and the MacLarens, without more ado, 
began asking questions. 

"What is shipped from this port?” inquired 
Peter. 

"Fish oil, along with dried fish, hides, skins, 
wool, lumber, grain, and in the fall, apples,” 
answered the boy. 

"Apples!” Nancy exclaimed. "Where do they 
come from?” 

"Have you ever heard of Evangeline?” The 
boy looked eager. 

Peter and Nancy nodded. 

"Apples come from the part of Nova Scotia 
that’s known as the home of the Acadians,” the 
boy explained. "Evangeline was an Acadian, as 
you know. We’re French, and my ancestors were 
here long before the land fell into English hands. 
You haven’t seen the Annapolis Valley?” 

"If we haven’t seen the Annapolis Valley, we 



FISHES, APPLES, AND FOXES 


253 



SPRINGTIME IN THE LAND OF EVANGELINE 

haven’t seen anything, I suppose,” Peter teased. 

“No, sir, you haven’t!” the boy said, seriously. 
“If you think Halifax a great city, you should 
see our city in the Annapolis Valley. 

As he walked about the wharves with Peter 
and Nancy, the boy went on, “The French called 
our city Port Royal, but we call it Annapolis 
Royal. You must see it. It’s one of the oldest 
towns on this continent north of Florida. 
are stone ramparts still standing, and I can show 
you the lilies of France stamped on the hinges 
of historic doors.” 




254 


PETER AND NANCY IN CANADA 


By the time Uncle Lee and Jimmy had attended 
to having the plane refueled, Peter and Nancy 
were bubbling over with enthusiasm. 

They knew they would not be disappointed 
when they should fly over the country of the 
Acadians and look down on small, well-kept 
farms with their beautiful orchards. In May 
and June, Jimmy declared, they would be all 
pink and white and fragrant. 

Warmed and fed at Halifax, the little party 
was soon ready to leave. Jimmy turned the 
plane northeast, flying as low as he dared to 
show Peter and Nancy the beautiful Bras d'Or 
lakes. The blue, heavily-wooded lakes looked 
remote and yet so inviting that Nancy declared 
she wished they might spend a summer there. 

‘‘Evidently you^re not the first person to have 
that idea,’^ Uncle Lee mused. “Dr. Alexander 
Graham Bell, who invented the telephone, chose 
this spot for his summer residence. He and Mrs. 
Bell are both buried on the mountainside over¬ 
looking the lake.’^ 

Soon Uncle Lee was pointing out Louisburg, 
the town with the strong fortress that had held 
out against the English for two months in 1758. 

Flying away from this little town which had 
once been so valiant, Jimmy indicated the posi¬ 
tions of great coal mines near Sydney, the largest 
city in Cape Breton. 

“These are the only coal deposits in North 
America which lie conveniently near the sea,’’ 



FISHES, APPLES, AND FOXES 


255 


Uncle Lee explained. “They make Sydney a 
great industrial center. As you see, it’s at the 
entrance to the Gulf of St. Lawrence.” 

“We’ll refuel here and then fly farther north¬ 
eastward to sight Newfoundland,” said Jimmy. 

“Wonderful!” Peter shouted. 

“Provided the weather’s good,” Uncle Lee 
added, as they descended. 

It was foggy and very cold as the plane flew 
across Cabot Strait toward Newfoundland. 

Jimmy called out, “I think you’ll see the peak 
of an iceberg soon.” 

“Guessing?” Peter sat forward eagerly. “Or 
are you sure, Jimmy?” 

“Fairly sure,” Jimmy replied. “The fog is 

opening up.” , 1 x 1 , i. 

Within a few minutes the sun broke through 
the heavy mist, and below the plane the sharp, 
pointed top of an iceberg appeared, the great 
bulk of it beneath a sea on which wide swells 
ran in rhythmic beauty. 

Jimmy turned the plane landward and pres¬ 
ently announced, “We’re over the Grand Banks. 

“I don’t see any land.” Nancy strained for a 


view of shorelines. 

“Land!” Jimmy chuckled like an old sea cap¬ 
tain in a storybook. “Your geopaphy, my lass, 
is very meager in its scope. The Grand Ban s 
are land, I might concede, but they re under 

^^The sea is very shallow here,’^ Uncle Lee ex- 



256 


PETER AND NANCY IN CANADA 


plained. ''Underneath is a plain about two hun¬ 
dred miles long and seventy miles wide. The 
Arctic current flows down over the Banks, bring¬ 
ing with it what may look like slime to you; but 
to the codflsh, the herring, and the lobsters, it 
looks like a banquet. That slime contains much sea 
life, all of which is good fish food. By the way, 
Newfoundland is not a part of Canada but a sepa¬ 
rate colony; the oldest, in fact, in the British 
Empire. However, Great Britain very gener¬ 
ously allows us to fish in her waters.’^ 

Nancy interrupted Uncle Lee with a shout 
of delight. 

"Uncle Lee!’’ she cried. "Look out there! A 
whole fleet of fishing schooners!” 

Peter and Nancy stared, a widening grin on 
Peter’s face as the fleet came into view: small, 
sturdy boats with sea-washed decks where hearty 
men in oilskins were handling nets. Several 
looked up and saluted the airplane. The Mac- 
Larens saluted in return. 

"Pd guess that fishing is an important indus¬ 
try in Newfoundland,” remarked Peter. 

"Right,” was Uncle Lee’s reply. "And the 
fishing is not limited to cod as most people 
imagine. The salmon industry is gaining con¬ 
stantly in importance, and I can see a splendid 
future for it in Newfoundland.” 

"Salmon are interesting fish,” continued Uncle 
Lee. "The young fish live in fresh water. Then 
about May they usually migrate to the sea. But 



FISHESy APPLES, AND FOXES 


257 



SALMON JUMPING THE FALLS OF A RIVER 
IN NEWFOUNDLAND 


at spawning time they always return to the 
waters from which they came, to lay their eggs. 

Jimmy swung back again westward and south¬ 
ward toward Prince Edward Island. Nancy 
settled comfortably beside Peter. 

‘'Those islands on the right,’’ called out Jimmy, 
“are the Magdalens, a part of Quebec Province. 
They are inhabited by descendants of the Acadi- 
ans and are all that’s left now of the romantic 
spirit of Acadia.” 

“The island’s only a little bigger than Dela- 




258 


PETER AND NANCY IN CANADA 


wsive” Uncle Lee informed Peter and Nancy, 
^^but we don^t want to miss the Garden Province/^ 

“Does it deserve the name?’’ Nancy inquired. 

“We’ll let you judge for yourself,” Uncle Lee 
decided. 

Separated from the mainland by Northumber¬ 
land Strait lay the green island, so long ^ and 
narrow that the water could be reached in a 
very short time from any part. The scenery 
was much like that of New England. 

Jimmy brought his plane down in the harbor 
of Charlottetown and Uncle Lee hired a car to 
show Peter and Nancy some of the fine farms 
with their vegetable gardens, their apple, plum, 
and pear orchards, and their acres of berry 
bushes. The cattle and sheep looked fat and 
contented, and Jimmy said that Prince Edward 
Island was one of the best dairy lands on earth. 

Stopping at a farm, the party was shown the 
utmost hospitality. They learned that in the 
town close by there was a co-operative dairy that 
handled the milk, making it into butter and 
cheese. 

The small son of the house begged Peter and 
Nancy to go out into the barnyard to see his pets. 
The pets proved to be two silver foxes which the 
boy’s father said were very valuable. 

“You’ll find many fur farms in Canada,” he 
told them. “This is just a start for us. My 
brother over at the other end of the island raises 
otter. And I know a fellow who raises beaver 



FISHES, APPLES, AND FOXES 


259 



SILVER FOXES 


and mink. Somo fur farms havG succgss with 
muskrat and skunk, but most of the big fur 
farms on Prince Edward Island are fox farms. 

'‘Raising fur-bearing animals is a paying 
venture,^’ Jimmy decided. “And it will continue 
to be, especially when the wild ones grow scarcer. 

They drove into the capital, Charlottetown, 
with its wide streets, great trees, and lovely 
homes. In the heart of the city stood the fine old 

"You know, children,’’ Uncle Lee told them, 
"Prince Edward Island is known in Canada as 





260 


PETER AND NANCY IN CANADA 


‘the Cradle of Confederation’ because it was right 
here in this old stone Parliament Building that 
the plan of uniting all of the provinces into the 
Dominion of Canada came into being.” ^ 

Peter and Nancy were so enthusiastic about 
Charlottetown that Jimmy said, “You remind 
me of the French sailors who first entered the 
harbor.” 

“In what way?” Nancy asked. 

“They liked the place so well, even before it 
was a town,” Jimmy explained, “that they called 
it Port la Joie, the Tort of Joy.’ ” 

“It’s a perfect name for it,’’ Peter decided. 

Rising from Prince Edward Island like a soar¬ 
ing gull, the seaplane crossed Northumberland 
Strait, a corner of Nova Scotia, Minas Basin, 
and the Annapolis Valley, sweet with orchard 
bloom, just as Peter and Nancy had known it 
would be. It sped across the Bay of Fundy from 
Nova Scotia to New Brunswick whose forests. 
Uncle Lee said, joined those of Maine. Peter 
and Nancy looked down first on fishing boats, 
and later on beautiful forests where men would 
be cutting trees in the fall. 

“Lumbering such as we used to see in Minne¬ 
sota and Wisconsin,” Uncle Lee observed. “The 
trees are mostly spruce, but there are a number 
of fir, hemlock, and cedar trees as well as harder 
woods like oak and birch.” 

“It’s a pity we can’t visit New Brunswick’s 
capital, Fredericton, and the lovely Matapedia 




FISHES, APPLES, AND FOXES 


261 



A PULP AND PAPER PLANT 


Valley, or busy Moncton,” cried Jimmy. “But 
I am going to circle over the harbor of St. John. 

Peter and Nancy could see that Saint John, 
another old city, was located at the mouth of the 
St. John River on the Bay of Fundy. 

“At high tide,” Jimmy explained to the excitea 
children, “the bay is actually higher than the 
river. This means that the tide pours up the river 
and turns the cascades above Saint John into 
what are called the Reversing Falls. B is /me 
of the strange sights of the world to watch those 
falls going backward at high tide. 







262 


PETER AND NANCY IN CANADA 


“It’s because the Bay of Fundy tides are the 
highest in the world,” added Uncle Lee. 

Peter and Nancy had a swift vision of logs 
in the river, a busy sawmill, and ships waiting 
at the wharves for their cargoes of lumber, wood- 
pulp, and wood products such as boards, sashes, 
boxes, and shingles. But soon their thoughts 
were turned toward that greatest of all Canadian 
rivers, the St. Lawrence. 



TODAY’S QUEBEC 
WITH YESTERDAY’S CHARM 


T hey sighted the river after flying for hours 
over the dense forests of New Brunswick. 
Cruising southwest along the Gaspe Coast, Peter 
and Nancy peered eagerly at the broad river 
below. 

“We can’t see everything,” Uncle Lee told them 
regretfully. “But some day we’ll visit Gaspe it¬ 
self, so lovely a village that its fame has spread 
all over America. The people have not adopted 
many modern conveniences. Outdoor ovens are 
still used for baking bread. Gaspe has a wonder¬ 
ful salmon hatchery that I’d like to show you, too. 
And away out in the gulf is the big island of 
Anticosti, once owned entirely by a famous 
French chocolate king and now being developed 
for pulp and paper. Beyond that is the Strait 
of Belle Isle which divides Newfoundland from 
Labrador. Some day we’ll take a cruise to Lab¬ 
rador from Montreal to see how the Indian and 
Eskimo children live. And we’ll visit the world- 
famous Grenfell missions along the rocky coast. 
It will be great fun sailing on the very fringe of 
the Arctic, seeing the northern lights, the short 
twilight nights, perhaps an iceberg or two, and 
seals and polar bears. But we can’t make it on 
this trip.” 


263 


264 


PETER AND NANCY IN CANADA 



Ewing Galloway 

OUTDOOR OVENS ARE STILL USED 

The plane descended near the shore off Father 
Point, where incoming ocean liners pick up their 
river pilots. It came to a stop at Rimouski wharf 
for refueling. 

A brief glimpse of this typical French-Cana- 
dian town and they were off again, heading across 
the St. Lawrence, many miles broad at this point. 

Soon they saw the great Laurentian Moun¬ 
tains, and at the mouth of an immense canyon a 
tiny village shining in the summer sun. 

^That^s Tadoussac,’’ exclaimed Jimmy as he 
circled over the prettiest summer resort they had 
ever seen. ^Tadoussac is very old. When Car- 





TODAY’S QUEBEC 


265 


tier first saw it in 1535, it was a big Indian camp 
of over a thousand people. And that great can¬ 
yon between the mountains is the mighty Sague¬ 
nay River, said to be a mile deep. Cruise ships 
from Montreal sail up as far as Capes Trinity 
and Eternity. The scenery is grander than that 
of the famous fiords of Norway. The Saguenay 
flows down from Lake St. John; the upper falls 
are used for power plants to run big aluminum 
works and paper mills.” 

Away they flew westward, over fashionable 
Murray Bay with its luxurious hotel, the Manoir 
Richelieu, past many historic French-Canadian 
towns nestling under steep, forested cliffs. 

“This is the way Jacques Cartier, the dis¬ 
coverer of the St. Lawrence, approached Quebec,” 
announced Jimmy as he roared his plane over 


the green Isle of Orleans. 

As they neared the western end of the isle, 
they caught sight of a tumultuous waterfall on 
their right, where the Montmorency tumbles over 
the cliff into the St. Lawrence. 

“I know!” cried Peter excitedly, “Montmorency 
Falls over a hundred feet higher than Niagara!” 

As’they approached, Quebec seemed like a city 
of the Middle Ages, perched on the great rock 
rising almost sheer from the river. 

The children cried out in ecstasy. Uncle Lee 
roused himself, pleased at their excitement. 

“So this is Quebec! Neighbor, I salute you! 
exclaimed Uncle Lee. 



266 


PETER AND NANCY IN CANADA 



Ewing Galloway 

MONTMORENCY FALLS 

‘‘Quebec would feel quite elated if she were a 
queen and could see your expression of admira¬ 
tion/^ Nancy decided. 

“She is a queen/^ Uncle Lee maintained. 
“Within just the last few years Quebec Province 






TODAY'S QUEBEC 


267 



QUEBEC FROM THE ST. LAWRENCE RIVER 

has started an industrial expansion to be proud 
of. In fact, all of Canada is advancing steadily 
in manufacturing and farming. Montreal is the 
leading wheat port of the world, and the inland 
provinces are supplying paper for all of us. 
You’ll see many mills producing sulphite wood- 
pulp to be made into rayon. These mills are run 

by water power.” ^ 

“White coal!” Peter interrupted. ihats 
what they call the water power. Once Jimmy 
told me that the tumbling rivers from the Lau- 
rentian Mountains supply the power for the mills 
and for the shoe factories which are becoming 
more and more numerous in Quebec. 






268 


PETER AND NANCY IN CANADA 



Ewing Galloway 

THE HARBOR OF QUEBEC 


Jimmy brought the plane down in the harbor, 
sending up sprays of clear, sparkling diamonds 
over the wings. A little boat chugged out to 
tow the plane up to the Quai du Roi. 

In a few minutes the MacLaren party was 
visiting an old market place where the country 
people sold their produce. Many of the fruits 
and vegetables arranged on tables were protected 
from the sun by large umbrellas. 

The MacLarens walked gaily along Rue de 
Notre Dame, Quebec’s oldest street. It was a 
mysterious street, shadowed by a rocky cliff on 
one side and old stone buildings on the other. 
One short block, and then the sunlight fell on a 
fine, open square named after Champlain. 




TODAY^S QUEBEC 


269 



AN OLD MARKET PLACE IN QUEBEC 

It was high noon and the Angelas rang out 
from an ancient church near by. It made them 
think somehow of Champlain and his struggles 
with the hostile Indians in the early days. 

“A walled city!” Nancy squinted up at the 
fortress walls as she climbed up Mountain Hill 
or Cote de la Montague. “I feel as though it 
were 1608 instead of 1938 when I tread these 

cobblestones.” ^ 

Passing the magnificent Basilica, and the Car¬ 
dinal’s Palace, they finally reached the beauHful 
Dufferin Terrace promenade. It was built along 



270 


PETER AND NANCY IN CANADA 


the top of the rock from the great hotel, Chateau 
Frontenac, to the foot of the even greater heights 
of the fortified citadel. From this vantage point 
they looked down hundreds of feet over Lower 
Town, across the river and at Levis opposite. 

Uncle Lee chuckled. ‘^You should see this ter¬ 
race in winter! It’s turned into a wonderful 
swift toboggan slide. In fact, Quebec’s a great 
spot for winter holidays, with its dog-sled derbies, 
snowshoeing, and skiing. 

^^Levis, on the opposite shore there, has ship¬ 
yards; you can see them. When Wolfe attacked 
Quebec, he shelled the city with artillery from 
those heights above the town there.” 

Uncle Lee then hired a two-wheeled carriage 
called a caleche. Perched high on its quaint 
seats, the party made a sight-seeing tour of the 
city. Their French-Canadian cabby proved most 
courteous and full of information, talking in 
broken English. 

They visited the old citadel, walked along its 
fortified road built between two rocky walls, and 
watched a battalion of French-Canadians drilling. 
They drove slowly and reverently down the 
Avenue des Braves whose fiowering rose trees 
on either side had been planted in memory of 
Quebec’s soldiers who were killed during the 
Great War. They stood on the Plains of Abra¬ 
ham by the monuments to the great generals 
Wolfe and Montcalm whom Quebec honors with 
equal affection. They stood on the campus and 



rODAY^S QUEBEC 


271 



SOUS LE FORT STREET IN QUEBEC 


viewed the buildings of Laval University as Uncle 
Lee explained that it was organized by royal 
charter from Queen Victoria of England in 1852^ 
They visited the well-known Church of the 








272 


PETER AND NANCY IN CANADA 



Ewing Galloway 

WOLFE MONUMENT ON THE PLAINS OF ABRAHAM 

Perpetual Adoration where devout nuns, in half- 
hour relays, keep a never-ending prayer alive. 
They saw a genuine Rubens painting inside a 
church that was old even when the British took 
Quebec. They drove through the quaint country¬ 
side to the famous shrine of Ste. Anne de Beaupre 
exclaiming with delight when they saw boys 
driving dogcarts. Old women at spinning wheels 
were seen on verandas, and once they caught 
sight of a plow drawn by two sleepy oxen! 

^What a dear, quaint country cried Nancy. 







TODAY^S QUEBEC 


273 


really old France in the New World/’ 
Uncle Lee remarked. 

Against the granite entrance of the Hotel de 
Ville stood a statue of Louis Hebert. 

^The first farmer citizen of Quebec!” Uncle 
Lee announced. ‘^Once he was a pharmacist in 
Paris, but he left his mortar and pestle for a 
spade and plow.” 

'What names are these?” Nancy asked as she 
examined a bronze plate on the base of the 
statue 

“French Canada’s ‘Mayflower’ list,” Uncle Lee 
explained. “Those are the names of pioneers 
who came over between 1615 and 1641. Eleven 
of them! The sixty names below are those of 
pioneers who arrived after 1641—within the fol¬ 
lowing twenty-five years.” 

“Most of those names,” Jimmy declared, may 
be found today on the stores and offices of the 
city of Quebec. Names like Cote, Belanger, Lang- 
lois, Boucher, and Hebert are well known. The 
French Canadians love their vigorous climate, 
and big families are common.” 

Then, to the delight of Peter and Nancy, he 
recited a Kipling limerick: 


There was a young boy of Quebec, 

Who fell through some ice to his neck. 
When asked, “Are you friz?” 

He replied, “Yes, I is, „ 

But we don’t call this cold in Quebec. 



274 


PETER AND NANCY IN CANADA 


Peter and Nancy looked down on the old city 
before descending to the St. Lawrence. They 
watched it in the afternoon sunshine stretching 
up toward Montreal, and they were told that 
along its banks were hundreds of fertile farms 
and pretty villages. 

''Just how large is Quebec Province, Uncle 
Lee?’’ Peter inquired. "It looks pretty big on 
Jimmy’s map.” 

"The whole province is nearly one fourth as 
large as the United States,” Uncle Lee said. 
"But it’s just the narrow strip of land along the 
St. Lawrence that is well populated. The rest is 
largely 'bush.’ ” 

On the banks of the St. Lawrence there was 
a great deal of life and activity. Ships and 
ferries came and went along the river. 

Uncle Lee pointed northward with a wide ges¬ 
ture. 

"Out there,” he declared, "are deep forests, 
steep hills, mountains, and swift streams. You’ll 
find lumber, fur-bearing animals, and valuable 
minerals in that so-called bush.” 

Uncle Lee went on to explain that this region 
beyond the river was called the Laurentian Moun¬ 
tains and was one of the oldest rock formations 
of the American continent. 

"But the old Laurentian Highland is pretty 
much worn down,” Jimmy added. "I’ve flown 
over the region and seen its rolling hills, broad, 
open valleys, and hundreds of lakes.” 



TODAY’S QUEBEC 


275 


The four members of the party stood quietly 
on the quay watching the boats being loaded. 

“Those boats are going out with supplies for 
winter camps,” Jimmy explained. “Much logging 
is done in Quebec.” 

“That boat,” Peter declared, “isn’t handling 


supplies for a lumber camp.” 

“You’re right, Peter,” Jimmy acknowledged 
as a heavily laden barge nosed in. “It isn’t. It’s 
bringing in asbestos. Asbestos is mined in very 
few places on this earth. It may surprise you to 
learn that nearly all the asbestos in the world 
comes from the Thetford Mines, south of the 
St. Lawrence River. The province of Quebec 
may just naturally give you gold, silver, copper, 
nickel, and iron, but that’s not surprising. Many 
metals are often found in mountainous country. 
But Quebec is unique in having asbestos mines.” 

1 ^ 0 '^ furnace pipes at home are wrapped 
in asbestos,” Peter remarked. _ 

“Never has a better means of insulation been 
found. Asbestos keeps heat from escaping,” 
Uncle Lee put in. “Asbestos in its raw state is 
found in rock. This rock is crushed and screened. 
Then by means of vacuum fans, the asbestos 
fiber is separated from the rock itself. _ Fma y 
it is graded, bagged, and sent to factories to be 
woven into cloth.’^ 

As they talked, they watched two saucy tugs 
work a steamer from Europe alongside the har- 
bor breakwater. 



276 


PETER AND NANCY IN CANADA 


“That’s your boat,” Jimmy declared. 

“Our boat?” Peter and Nancy were incredu¬ 
lous. 

“Your boat,” Jimmy insisted. “Uncle Lee is 
going to take you to Montreal by steamer while 
I remain behind to recondition my plane.” 



THREE CANADIAN CITIES 

T he great liner glided out of the harbor past 
the towering Citadel Rock. The MacLarens 
waved farewell to Dulferin Terrace far above 
them. Soon they were passing Wolfe’s Cove, and 
the sight brought to mind the statues of Wolfe 
and Montcalm they had seen on the Plains of 
Abraham. What a night that must have been 
in 1769 when Wolfe and his men climbed silently 
up that'slope to surprise the besieged Frenchmen 
next morning! How amazed Wolfe would be 
today to see here, on that very spot, this immense 
dock and shed and the great steamships moored 

alongside them! . t 

“Where are all those boats going. Uncle Lee. 

^^“ProSy they are going down the river to 
Baie Comeau to pick up cargoes of pulpwood 
which will be made into newsprint, the paper 
used in the printing of newspapers, said Uncle 

^^“Much of the wood used in the i^^nufacWre 
of newsprint is spruce and balsam. Wood from 
many acres of forest is required to make enough 
naner for one Sunday edition. 

^ “I’d like to live in a lumber camp, Peter de¬ 
clared “Even forty below wouldn’t scare me. 
Areihe paper mills near the lumber camps? 


277 


278 


PETER AND NANCY IN CANADA 


“Some of them are,” Uncle Lee answered. 
Perhaps these ships will take their loads of pulp- 
wood to great paper mills like the one located at 
Thorold on the Welland Canal. Niagara Falls 
furnishes cheap power for use in this mill. Cheap 
power means cheap paper, and this is important 
to the people of the United States since we use 
about half the world’s output of paper.” 

“Do we use most of the world’s aluminum 
ware, too?” Peter inquired. “Jimmy says that 
Arvida in the Lake St. John region is famous for 
aluminum.” 

“That’s right,” Uncle Lee agreed. “Arvida, on 
the upper reaches of the Saguenay River, is a 
new city built for making aluminum. We got a 
glimpse of it at Tadoussac, you remember.” 

Suddenly Peter shouted, “Look! we’re going 
to pass under the Quebec Bridge!” 

They all gasped, like most of the other passen¬ 
gers on deck, as the ship approached the bridge. 
Surely the tall masts could never pass under it! 
Yet, as they held their breath and waited for the 
expected crash, the great ship passed silently and 
easily beneath those huge girders that spanned 
the river. 

“That’s a famous optical illusion that never 
fails to scare passengers,” chuckled Uncle Lee. 
“That bridge, by the way, is a real triumph of 
engineering, although it collapsed twice while 
under construction. It has one of the longest 
cantilever spans in the world.” 




THREE CANADIAN CITIES 


279 



THE QUEBEC BRIDGE 


The trip to Montreal was most interesting 
The travelers passed Three Rivers, a great pulp 
and paper city, so large that they imagined they 
were already arriving at Montreal _ They could 
easily see the three rivers which joined the bt. 
Lawrence at this point. ~ ^ 

They passed through Lake St. Peter—a widen¬ 
ing of the river—saw busy Sorel at the mouth of 
the historic Richelieu River, and came so close 
to the south shore in places that f ey could ^ 
shout to people ashore. At last the pleas 
cruL endri i they sailed into the busy harbor o£ 



280 


PETER AND NANCY IN CANADA 


Montreal—the largest inland port in the world 
and the second largest French-speaking city. 

The great city, with its skyscrapers, churches, 
universities, and immense factories, climbed up 
from the water front around the slopes of Mount 
Eoyal. On the top of the forested mountain 
they saw a great cross which was lighted at night. 

Uncle Lee took the children for a carriage drive 
up through Mount Royal Park to the Lookout 
on the summit. From this great height they 
looked down on the vast city, the great St. Law¬ 
rence River like a white ribbon in the distance 
still stretching westward toward Ontario and 
the Great Lakes. Beyond lay rich farm lands 
of the eastern townships, and farther still in the 
blue haze rose the Adirondack Mountains in their 
own United States. 

Across the river were two great bridges, with 
wedge-shaped piers. 

‘They are the queerest-shaped piers I ever 
saw!” Peter was puzzled. 

“They’re in the shape of big plowshares,” Uncle 
Lee explained. “When the ice rushes against 
them in the spring they have to be able to meet 
the impact.” 

The MacLarens’ driver, another cheery French- 
Canadian, pointed out some of the high spots in 
the city below. He told them of the Chateau de 
Ramezay where Benjamin Franklin had once 
set up a printing press, of the celebrated Lachine 
Rapids on the river above the city, of St. James’ 




THREE CANADIAN CITIES 


281 



THE CATHEDRAL OF ST. JAMES 


Cathedral, built in the style of St. Peter’s in 
Rome and a third its size, and of many historic 


relics of old Montreal. _ . ^ „ 

“I’d like to visit Montreal in winter. 


Peter 









282 


PETER AND NANCY IN CANADA 



Canadian Travel Bureau 
OTTAWA FROM THE AIR 

decided. ^Then we could ski, skate, snowshoe, 
and toboggan. It’s a great place for sports. 
Well, Uncle Lee, where do we go from here? Up 
the St. Lawrence?” 

''We’ll go to Ottawa!” Uncle Lee answered. 
"The capital of Canada! We’ll go by bus, for a 
change, up the lovely Ottawa Valley.” 

Ontario, Uncle Lee informed the children, was 
the province in which Ottawa was situated. He 
called Ontario the heart of Canada, where lived 
a third of the Dominion’s people and where 
much of her wealth was found. 



THREE CANADIAN CITIES 


283 



Ewing Galloway 

THE FEDERAL HOUSES OF PARLIAMENT IN OTTAWA 

Peter and Nancy liked Ottawa, a regal city 
built on the high west bank of the broad Ottawa 
River which raced at its feet. They admired the 
Chaudiere Falls, the wooded parks near the city, 
and the magnificent government buildings. 

Peter wanted to spend most of his tiine among 
the lumber piles near the river. He enjoyed the 
smell of freshly-cut wood, which made him a little 
homesick for the farm; he liked to walk between 
the long, high piles of lumber. It was like walk¬ 
ing through narrow streets between tall build¬ 
ings. 

Uncle Lee took Peter and Nancy to see the 
Dominion's Parliament Building with its stately 






284 


PETER AND NANCY IN CANADA 


Peace Tower. In 1919 the then Prince of Wales 
laid the cornerstone. A great carillon, installed 
below the clock, played rich music. Uncle Lee 
said the smallest of the fifty-three bells weighed 
ten pounds, and the largest over 22,000 pounds. 

Nancy was most impressed by the exquisite 
marble Altar of Remembrance in the Peace Tower, 
for it held the Book of Remembrance in which the 
names of all the Canadians who had lost their 
lives in the World War were inscribed. 

Then early one morning the MacLarens took a 
train for Toronto, the second largest city of 
Canada. 

“Toronto is the capital of the province of On¬ 
tario,’’ Uncle Lee explained as he pointed out the 
fine government buildings, the famous univer¬ 
sity, and the beautiful homes with their lovely 
lake views. 

But as Uncle Lee said, beauty alone could 
not make a city. Toronto owed its wealth to 
neighboring iron foundries, factories, and mines. 
Peter in his ramblings discovered a busy harbor 
and several meat-packing plants. With Uncle 
Lee, Nancy visited a factory where agricultural 
implements were manufactured and shipped by 
rail or water into the vast farming communities 
of Canada. 

One evening after dinner. Uncle Lee got out 
his map and spread it on the table beside his 
dessert plate. 

“This part of Ontario,” he said, indicating the 



THREE CANADIAN CITIES 


285 



THE PRINCE OF WALES ARCH IN TORONTO 


south, “is called the Lake Peninsula. Most of the 
people of Ontario live here, for it’s an extension 
of the plains of the United States, and, as you 







286 


PETER AND NANCY IN CANADA 


know, the plains are very fertile. The people 
raise cattle, hogs, and fruit. The apple and 
peach orchards are wonderful to look at.’’ 

Nancy had not been paying much attention. 
Her eyes were on the little towns north of To¬ 
ronto, and suddenly she put her finger on one of 
the names. Callander! 

“Oh, I wish we could see the Dionne quintu¬ 
plets!” she cried. 

“We’ll drive up there on Sunday,” Uncle Lee 
promised. “There’s an average of a thousand 
visitors every Sunday, but we may as well be 
part of the admiring throng.” 

On Sunday morning the procession of cars 
along the sandy stretch of good road leading into 
Callander told the world that the Dionne babies 
had made Dr. Allan Dafoe and their home 
town famous. To Peter and Nancy the proces¬ 
sion seemed like a parade. 

It was not hard to find the Dafoe Hospital, a 
one-story building with parking space for a thou¬ 
sand cars. Men, women, and children formed in 
groups about the strong fence that separated the 
world from the famous quintuplets. 

Presently a nurse led the little girls out under 
the big umbrellas on the porch, and cries of delight 
ran through the crowd. Five little girls, all with 
big brown eyes and dark hair, chubby and eager I 
They played together gleefully, Yvonne, Annette, 
Cecile, Emilie, and Marie. 

The MacLarens went on to Sudbury, north of 



THREE CANADIAN CITIES 


287 


Georgian Bay, to visit the nickel mines. Peter 
and Nancy were amazed at the uses for nickel 
that Uncle Lee counted off: knives, forks, spoons, 
of course, and in addition, an alloy of nickel and 
steel was used for machinery, armor plates for 
warships, bridges, cars, and steel rails. 

“Steel rails!” Uncle Lee emphasized the words, 
as they approached one of the big mines. “Steel 
rails, the most important use for nickel, have 
made Canada. Fifty-six thousand miles of steel 
have made communication and transportation 
possible for the great Dominion. And half the 
supply of the world’s nickel is found right here 
in Sudbury.” 

The falls of a near-by river furnished the 
power that developed electricity for Sudbury, and 
it was a well-lighted mine into which the Mac- 
Larens descended. Nancy did not remain below 
long, but Peter stayed to watch the ore being 
mined. 

He saw that it was handled in much the same 
way as coal and iron. The men broke great 
masses of the rock loose, loaded it on cars, and 
hoisted it to the surface. 

From Sudbury, the MacLarens visited the 
gold fields at Timmins and Kirkland Lake. They 
marveled at all the immense machinery and the 
labor necessary to turn the rough ore from the 
mine into little oblong ingots of precious gold. 

To get a taste of Canadian camp life. Uncle 
Lee, Peter, and Nancy, accompanied by a guide, 



288 


PETER AND NANCY IN CANADA 


went for a trip into the northern lake and bush 
country. 

While Uncle Lee fished for trout and black 
bass, Peter and Nancy followed the trails with 
their guides. They learned to know the lynx, the 
otter, and the beaver and the marten. They 
became familiar with the honk of the Canadian 
goose, and they saw numerous birds which re¬ 
minded them of home: martins, ruby-throated 
hummingbirds, finches, scarlet tanagers, great 
blue herons, and redheaded woodpeckers. 

‘‘Beyond those hills,’’ Uncle Lee pointed out, 
“the rivers all flow north instead of south. Those 
hills are the watershed dividing the St. Lawrence 
waters from those of Hudson Bay.” 

One day the MacLarens saw a rider galloping 
along a distant hill. He wore riding breeches 
and a red coat. 

“He is a Royal Canadian Mounted Policeman,” 
Uncle Lee explained. 

“So he’s a real Mountie!” Peter exclaimed. 

“The Mounties make up a unique police 
force,” Uncle Lee continued. “They were organ¬ 
ized years ago to bring law and order to the 
wild country of northwestern Canada where 
there were few towns and little or no established 
government. At first they were called the North¬ 
west Mounted Police. In 1920 the force was re¬ 
organized as the Royal Canadian Mounted Police 
with headquarters at Ottawa. 

“The Mounties have won the reputation of 



THREE CANADIAN CITIES 


289 



ROYAL CANADIAN MOUNTED POLICE 


being one of the finest of the world’s police forces. 
They now serve in any part of Canada. The force 
numbers about one thousand at the present 
‘The men live in barracks in the forest and 
spend many hours in the saddle. Their lives are 
often hazardous. The men must spend much oi 
their time outdoors in all kinds of weather on 
errands of mercy or justice.” 




Ewing Galloway 


THE GREAT CANADIAN MOOSE 


THREE CANADIAN CITIES 


291 



FLOATING LOGS DOWN THE RIVER TO A SAWMILL 

On the last morning of the camping trip Peter 
and Nancy came upon a great moose, just emerg¬ 
ing from a cold, clear lake. He gave a startled 
look at the new-comers and crashed off into the 

brush. , , , 

Returning, the MacLarens had a better concep¬ 
tion of what caused Toronto’s prosperity. Many 
new homes had been built from money earned in 
northern Ontario. Some of it came from the min¬ 
ing of copper, gold, and nickel; some came from 
the furs produced; and some was earned in the 
lumbering industry. 





WEST AND STILL FARTHER WEST 


W estward through the Great Lakes! The 
MacLarens were sailing through the Wel¬ 
land Canal into Lake Erie. 

“Lake Ontario,” Uncle Lee explained, as they 
paced the lake liner’s deck, “is more than three 
hundred feet lower than Lake Erie. Niagara 
Falls covers 164 feet of this difference in one 
leap.” 

Peter and Nancy had already marveled at the 
swirling, plunging, green-blue water of Niagara. 
They could never forget the sight. They knew 
that Canada and the United States had agreed 
to use only part of Niagara’s power so that the 
beauty of the falls might be preserved. 

Most of the time while sailing through the 
lakes, the MacLarens could imagine that they 
were on the ocean, for often they were out of 
sight of land. Beyond the head of Lake Erie, 
however, the lake became narrower. The Detroit 
and St. Clair rivers, and Lake St. Clair became 
the waterways of the journey. 

Then the MacLarens’ boat sailed up Lake 
Huron, and finally at the northern end of Lake 
Huron the waterway narrowed into St. Mary’s 
River. Here, Uncle Lee pointed out, the Soo 
Canal had been built so that ships might pass the 
rapids of the river and reach Lake Superior. 


292 


WEST AND STILL FARTHER WEST 


293 



NIAGARA FALLS FROM THE CANADIAN SIDE 


“Cities on both sides!” Peter cried. “One on 
the United States side, and one on the Canadian 

“The twin cities of Sault Sainte Marie,” Uncle 
Lee informed them. 

“The locks interest me,” Nancy remarked. 
“They open up like double doors. It s no trouble 
at all for our boat to go through. They are truly 
wonderful locks. Look, Peter.” 

Their steamer crossed deep, cold Lake Supe¬ 
rior and brought the travelers at last to those 
other twin cities. Fort William and Port Arthur, 
where they gazed in astonishment at the biggest 
grain elevators in the world. Here was a new 





294 


PETER AND NANCY IN CANADA 



Canadian Travel Bureau 
PORTAGE AVENUE IN WINNIPEG 

kind of wealth—the western treasury of wheat! 

By train they continued the journey on through 
the Lake of the Woods region toward Winnipeg. 
The name had the magic sound of far places for 
Nancy. Once she and Peter had visited a family 
in Winnipeg, Manitoba’s capital city and the 
gateway to the great wheat belt, but she had 
been too young to remember much about it. 
Since then it had grown to be Canada’s largest 
Middle Western city. 

Peter and Nancy were amazed at the size of 
Winnipeg with its broad streets and avenues 





WEST AND STILL FARTHER WEST 


295 


bordered by fine residences and great office build¬ 
ings. 

“Skyscrapers!” Peter exclaimed. 

It seemed strange to meet trappers, ranchers, 
miners, and farmers on the streets in such a 
great city. The MacLarens fell in love all over 
again with the friendliness of the West. 

“Winnipeg is a great railway center,” said 
Uncle Lee. “It’s the great junction for all the 
lines west, east, south, and even as far north now 
as Churchill, right on Hudson Bay. In fact, 
Manitoba now has an Atlantic port of its own at 
Churchill, from which ships carry western grain 
to Eui-ope. Churchill is actually nearer to Liver¬ 
pool than Montreal is, but of course the Hudson 
Bay route is open for only a few weeks in the 
year because of ice.” 

The Winnipeg shops were filled with fine 
blankets and sports outfits, and Nancy picked 
out some of that beautiful English china. Crown 
Derby, for her mother. 

By train, a very modern train indeed, the Mac¬ 
Larens rode on into Saskatchewan, making a 
stop at Regina, the capital city. The wheat fields 
were golden in the sunlight. Uncle Lee said that 
Saskatchewan was known as the hard-wheat 

country. . „ 

“This wheat land is one vast block of grain, 
he explained. “No matter in which direction you 
traveled, north, east, south, or west, you would 
still be in a grain field, probably for days.” 



296 


PETER AND NANCY IN CANADA 



Canadian Travel Bureau 


A HIGHWAY IN SASKATCHEWAN 

Regina and Saskatoon proved to be prosperous 
cities, for the Canadian pioneer adventurer had 
now become a substantial farmer. 

Beyond the wheat country, Uncle Lee said, lay 
a large forest belt, with its menaces of muskeg 
and forest fires. There was little saw timber, 
but perhaps a fourth of the timber growth would 
do for pulpwood. In this bush country horses 
and cattle were raised. The farmers had plenty 
of feed for the horses, including wild hay. There 
was enough wood for winter fires, and in the 
south farmers had peat coal or lignite which they 







WEST AND STILL FARTHER WEST 


297 


could dig up in their own fields. In Wyoming, 
Peter had once seen his uncle dig lignite. It 
looked like dirt but burned like coal. He thought 
wistfully of the somewhat smoky but good fire it 
had made in the Klondike stove of the shack. 

The train carried the MacLarens on into Al¬ 
berta toward Edmonton, its capital city, and the 
gateway to the Peace River country and the 
Mackenzie basin. 

“Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta are 
called the Prairie Provinces,” Uncle Lee told 
them. 

From the car windows Peter and Nancy again 
saw the yellow sea of wheat which seemed to 
stretch all the way from Manitoba. The slightest 
wind ruffled it into waves like those of a sea on 
which a brilliant golden sun was setting. The 
only break in the gold was an occasional pasture, 
still green from the late summer rains. 

“Beyond the grain fields lies wooded land,” 
Uncle Lee observed. “I’d like to arrange a trip 
north if school didn’t start so soon. 

Such a deluge of questions followed that Uncle 
Lee sank back. A big fellow wearing a ten- 
gallon hat and shiny boots that intrigued Peter 
sat near them. He came over and spoke to Uncle 

Lee. . „ 

“Do you mind if I relieve you, sir, of answer¬ 
ing those questions?” , , ,• 

At Uncle Lee’s invitation he seated himself 
beside Peter, facing Uncle Lee and Nancy. 



298 


PETER AND NANCY IN CANADA 


''Whitcomb's my name," he began. "Sam Whit¬ 
comb. I've got a ranch up in the Peace River 
country. So you want to know all about Alberta? 
Well, I came in here when Edmonton was a tiny 
settlement and you washed in a tin basin. But 
the good land was here waiting, over two hundred 
thousand square acres of it, with plenty of rain¬ 
fall and snow, and a couple of thousand hours 
of sunshine a year. It does run forty and fifty 
below sometimes out where I live, but the mean 
temperature for Alberta is thirty-seven degrees. 
Besides, the sunshine makes up for the low tem¬ 
peratures, and a fellow doesn't mind cold in dry 
air the way he would if it were muggy." 

"Would there be room for some fellows like 
me?" Peter inquired. 

"Room?" Mr. Whitcomb laughed. "Room? 
With a population of less than eight hundred 
thousand? There's room all right, and oppor¬ 
tunity at any door you care to open. We've got 
seventy million acres of land suitable for agri¬ 
culture and only eighteen million acres culti¬ 
vated thus far. There are one million tons in 
coal reserves. You can take your choice—lignite, 
bituminous, or subbituminous. About 65 per 
cent of gas consumption in Canada is natural 
gas. The principal fields are at Turner Valley, 
Medicine Hat, Viking, and Foremost. Are you 
interested in petroleum?" 

"Yes, sir," Peter answered. "I guess every¬ 
body is interested in oil." 



WEST AND STILL FARTHER WEST 


299 


“Well, we’ve got oil fields at Turner Valley, 
Red Coulee, Wainwright, Ribstone, and Skiff. 
There are 120 wells thus far, and the annual pro¬ 
duction is around 1,300,000 barrels, believe it 
or not! And, if the oil business doesn’t appeal 
to you, we’ve still got sixty thousand square 
miles of timber, fifteen thousand square miles 
of bituminous land, fields of clay west of Edmon¬ 
ton, salt at Fort McMurray, fur farms, fisheries, 
and good facilities for aviation. One of the 
finest airports you’ll find anywhere is right in 
Edmonton.” 

“I’m interested,” Peter said. “But I haven’t 
finished school as yet.” 

“School?” The Canadian was almost impatient. 
“We can take care of that. We have over four 
thousand primary and high schools in Alberta 
right now. Then there are three normal schools, 
a technical school, a couple of agricultural col¬ 
leges, and our fine modern university with five 
affiliated colleges. If you can get through a few 
of them, you’ll be what the world calls educated!” 

Uncle Lee interrupted the friendly informant 
to ask about the fishing in Alberta. He was 
promised the best pike, perch, and pickerel 
should he fish in the Rocky Mountain streams, 
and the finest in trout should he choose the little 
streams in the foothills. 

Mr. Whitcomb spoke, too, of wild life in the 
Banff National Park and added that he usually 
carried a camera when visiting the park. From 



300 


PETER AND NANCY IN CANADA 



Canadian Travel Bureau 


BEARS IN JASPER NATIONAL PARK 

his vest pocket he drew out a folder containing 
pictures he had taken and passed them around 
to Nancy, Uncle Lee, and Peter. There was a 
bighorn sheep coming gingerly down a steep, 
rocky pass. A pair of mountain goats were 
climbing a steep cliif. Caribou, elk, and moose 
fed in clearings. A deer and a doe had come to 
drink at a brook. A grizzly bear stood in a moun¬ 
tain road. A black bear pawed honey from a 
hollow tree. A mule deer lifted its large ears as 
if listening, and a pair of antelope with gentle 
eyes paused in a meadow. As the Canadian 
talked, the MacLarens saw wild ducks and geese 
fly up out of the wild rice, and sharp-tailed 








MOUNTAIN GOATS IN BANFF NATIONAL PARK 



302 


PETER AND NANCY IN CANADA 


grouse, ruffed grouse, spruce grouse, and ptar¬ 
migan flew away with a drumming of wings. 
Hungarian pheasants, Chinese, and Mongolian 
pheasants preened their colorful feathers as they 
strutted in the sun. 

‘^Edmonton called the conductor, and the pic¬ 
tures of the Canadian wilds had to be returned to 
their owner. The MacLarens thanked Mr. Whit¬ 
comb and promised to visit his ranch some day. 

Edmonton was undoubtedly a busy traffic cen¬ 
ter for northern fur traders, farmers, and min¬ 
ers, but it was also a very beautiful city worthy 
of tourist trade. The handsome parliament 
buildings and the equally handsome Alberta Uni¬ 
versity were as imposing as any the MacLarens 
had seen. 

Located as it is on a tableland above the north 
Saskatchewan river, the city boasted a splendid 
view. Below lay the winding river, the green 
valley, and the vast plains beyond. The hotel 
was so luxurious that Peter rebelled. 

thought out here we might stay in a log 
cabin inn,’’ he objected as Uncle Lee registered. 

‘Tou’re about fifty years too late, son,” a 
Canadian Mountie in a red jacket informed Peter. 

Early in the morning the MacLarens left Ed¬ 
monton for Calgary, due south. As the trade 
center for all the ranchers in the vicinity, Calgary 
was quite as busy as Edmonton. 

'Ualgary owes its growth to the Canadian 
Pacific Railway,” Uncle Lee informed Peter and 



WEST AND STILL FARTHER WEST 


303 



GRAIN ELEVATORS ON THE PRAIRIE 


Nancy. “Probably some of the prosperity is due 
to the fine brown sandstone near by. You’ll notice 
that a good many of the buildings are made of 
this sandstone.” 

“Anyone could guess from the grain elevators 
we have seen that wheat is the most important 
agricultural product in the province of Alberta,” 
remarked Peter, as yet another one came into 

view. , 

The few hours in Calgary assuredly were not 
enough, and the trip into the busy oil fields and 
the southern coal area was all too brief. Soon 
the MacLaren party were westbound again, this 



304 


PETER AND NANCY IN CANADA 


time for Banff and Lake Louise. This would be 
their first experience in the Canadian Rockies. 

That westward trip was a series of wonderful 
pictures in color. While Nancy exclaimed at 
snow-crowned mountains, Peter would point out 
an icy river grinding its way through a deep 
chasm. Or, while Peter was shouting at the sight 
of a forested slope in whose trees the hoarfrost 
hung like white blossoms, Nancy was exclaiming 
over a tiny mountain lake, blue-green and shining 
like a jewel. 

Banff, just eighty miles westward from Cal¬ 
gary, needed nothing more than its magnificent 
scenery to win it acclaim. In this region among 
great glaciers, imposing mountains, and blue 
lakes, the traveler could enjoy life to the full. 
Here were tame bears, deer, and mountain goats. 
The great Banff Springs Hotel, overlooking the 
Bow River valley, was quite the most luxurious 
hotel the children had ever seen. 

The MacLarens were prepared for their first 
glimpse of Lake Louise, a glorious lake walled in 
by mountain peaks and forests, the finest gem of 
Rocky Mountain Park. 

From Lake Louise the train took the Mac¬ 
Larens westward and southward through the 
impressive Canadian Rockies. Uncle Lee told 
the children that the province of British Columbia 
was largely mountainous, only the narrow sea- 
coast being low or level. 

Finally the American travelers arrived at Van- 




BEAUTIFUL LAKE LOUISE 


306 


PETER AND NANCY IN CANADA 



Canadian Travel Bureau 


BOW FALLS IN BANFF NATIONAL PARK 

couver, the great western port, a fine Canadian 
city only a few hours’ trip north of their own city 
of Seattle in the state of Washington. 

Uncle Lee explained that though Prince Rupert, 
much farther up the coast, was an important 
shipping center, Vancouver, the largest city in 
British Columbia and one of the largest in all 
Canada, was the main Pacific port. 

‘^To this large and well-protected harbor,” he 
added, ‘'come ships from all the countries of the 
Orient and even from Europe by way of the Pan¬ 
ama Canal. Canada exports meat, grain, fruit, 





WEST AND STILL FARTHER WEST 


307 



THE CITY OF VICTORIA AND HARBOR 


and lumber in great quantities, and it is at Van- 
couver that much of this produce is loaded on 
the waiting ships. Passenger ships dock at Van¬ 
couver too, the ships coming mainly from China, 
Japan, Australia, and the Hawaiian Islands.’ 

After Peter and Nancy had seen Vancouver s 
well-constructed public buildings, gone swimming 
at one of the beaches, and remarked a great 
many times about the freshness of the grass and 
the abundance of flowers, they and Ujicle Lee 
paid a visit to Victoria, the capital of British 
Columbia. 



308 


PETER AND NANCY IN CANADA 


Peter and Nancy had been anxious to see Vic¬ 
toria and Vancouver Island on which Victoria is 
located. They were interested to learn that Van¬ 
couver Island is almost as large as the whole of 
Ireland. A fast motor ferry took the MacLarens 
quickly and comfortably to the beautiful old- 
world city. 

^'How much like England all of this is!^^ Uncle 
Lee kept repeating. ‘‘How much like England 
and London!’’ 

Peter and Nancy visited the Parliament Build¬ 
ings, saw the statue of Queen Victoria, and 
browsed in curio and antique shops. One of 
their happiest experiences was a cycling trip 
they took one afternoon. 

The MacLaren children said good-by to Canada 
at Vancouver in a park overlooking the harbor 
and the straits leading out into the Pacific. Uncle 
Lee had arranged for a car for the trip back to 
the United States and home, and while they 
waited for it Peter and Nancy strolled in the 
park. They stood looking at the statue in honor 
of Warren Gamaliel Harding. 

Nancy stared up at the two great female 
figures that represented the United States and 
Canada. They faced each other, each with a 
hand on the laurel wreath between them. Then 
she read the inscription carved on the granite 
slab below, glancing from time to time at the 
face of the president carved in relief between the 
blocks of inscription. 



WEST AND STILL FARTHER WEST 


309 


“Canada hopes that our country and hers will 
always be friends,” she reported to Peter. “She 
hopes that there will never be armed guards at 
the border and that the peace that now exists will 
never be broken.” 

“I should hope not!” Peter was serious. 
“Imagine quarreling with a grand country like 
Canada!” 

Then Uncle Lee appeared with the car, ready to 
drive down into Washington. Thus it was that 
Peter and Nancy passed through the famous 
wooden gate and the uncut weeds. Above the 
gate the words, MAY these gates never be 
CLOSED, expressed all that was in their hearts. 




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i*- 


PRONOUNCING VOCABULARY 


PRONOUNCING VOCABULARY 


KEY: a as ate; a as vacation; a as care; 2, as add; a as arm; a as ask; 
c as eve; S as event; S as 6nd; e as maker; i as ice; 1 as ill; n as a^nasal^ig; 
ng as sing; 5 as old; 6 as 6hey; 6 as for; 6 as 6dd; oi as oil; oo as food; 
(% as foot; ou as out; th as in the; u as cube; u as unite; as Mr; ti as Gp; 


ii as menii; zh as z in azure. 

Abraham (a'bra-ham) 

Acadia (a-ka'di-a) 

Acadian (a-ka'di-Gn) 
adids (a-dyos') 

Adirondack (ad'i-rQn'dS,k) 

Agua (a'gwa) 
aguamiel (a'gwa-mySl') 
ahuehuete (a'wa-wa'ta) 

Alaska (a-lS,s'ka) 

Alberta (al-bur'ta) 

Alvarado, Pedro de (al'va-ra'tho, 
pa'dro da) 

Amapala (a'ma-pii'la) 

Amatitlan (a-ma'te-tlan') 
Amecameca (a-ma'ka-ma'kii) 
Andhuac (a-na'wak) 

Anc6n (ang-kon') 

Annapolis (d-ndp'o-lis) 

Annapolis Royal (d-ndp'6-lls roi'dl) 
Anticosti (an'ti-kds'ti) 

Antigua (dn-te'gwa) 

Antilles (dn-til'ez) 

Appalachian (dp'a-ldch'i-dn) 
Argentine (ar'jdn-ten) 

Arvida (ar-vi'da) 

Asia (a'zha) 

Asuncidn (a-sobn'syon') 

Atitldn (a'te-tlan') 

Australia (6s-tral'ya) 

Avenue des Braves (a-ve-nob da 
brav') 

Aztec (dz'tSk) 

Bahamas (ba-ha'maz) 

Baie Comeau (ba' ko'mo') 


Balboa (bdl-bo'a) 

Banff (bdmf) 

Basilica (ba-siPi-ka) 

Belanger (be-laN'zha') 

Benares (b6-na'r6z) 

Bering (ber'Ing) 

Bonapart, Napoleon (bo'na-part, 
na-po'le-un) 

Borda (bor'da') 

Borde, Joseph le (bord, zh5-s6f' Ic) 
Boucher (boo'sha') 
bougainvillea (bob'gin-vll'e-a) 

Bras d’Or (bra' dor') 

Brazil (bra-zil') 

British Columbia (brit'fsh ko-lum'- 
bi-a) 

brujo (broo'ho) 

Cabot (kdb'Gt) 
caleche (ka'lSsh') 

Calgary (kdl'ga-ri) 

Callander (kdl'an-der) 

Campeche (kam-pa'cha) 

Canada (kdn'a-da) 

Canadian (ka-na'di-dn) 

Canal del Desagiie (ka-niil' ddl 
d6s-a'g^va) 

Cape Breton (kap brIt'Gn) 
Cardenas (kar'da-nas) 

Carib (kdr'ib) 

Caribbean (kdr'f-be'dn) 

Carlotta (kar-l6t'a) 

Carranza (kar-ran'sa) 

Cartago (kar-ta'go) 

Cartier Jaques (kar'tya', zhdk) 

312 


PRONOUNCING VOCABULARY 


313 


Catorce (ka-tor'sa) 
cenote (sa-no'ta) 

Cenote de Xtoloc (sa-no'ta da shto- 
16k') 

Cenote Sagrado (sa-no'ta sa-gra'do) 
Cerro del Carmen (s6r'r5 d6l kar'- 
m6n) 

Cervantes (th6r-van'tas) 

Chagres (cha'grSs) 
chalupa (cha-loo'pa) 

Champlain (sh^m'plan') 

Chapala (cha-pa'la) 

Chapultepec (cha-pool'ta-p6k') 
Charlottetown (shar'l6t-toun) 
Chateau de Ramezay (sha'to' de 
ra-m6-za') 

Chateau Frontenac (sha'to fron't’- 
nak') 

Chaudi6re (sho'dy&r') 
chayote (cha-yo'ta) 

Cheops (ke'6ps) 

Chichen Itzd (ch6-ch6n'et-sa') 
chicle (che'k’l) 

chili con came (che'la k5n kar'na) 
China (chi'na)_ 

Cholula (ch6-loo'la) ^ 

Chucunaque (shoo-koo-na'ka) 
Churchill (chiirch'il) ^ ^ 
Churubusco (choo'roo-boos'ko) 
Cimarron (se'mar-ron') 

Cinco de Mayo (sen'ko da ma'yo) 
Citadel (sit'a-d61) _ _ 

Ciudad Trujillo (syoo-thath' troo- 
hel'yo) _ ^ 

Ciudad Victoria (syoo-thiith vek- 
to'r6-a) 

Coatepeque (k6-a'ta-pa'ka) 
Colombia (k6-16m'be-a) 

Colonia (k6-lo'nya) 

Comayagua (ko'ma-ya'g^va) 
cordillera (kor'dil-yar'a) 

Cdrdoba (k6r'd5-va) 

Corinto (k6-ren't6) 

Cortez (k6r't6z) 

Cosegiiina (ko'sa-gwe'na) 


Costa Rica (kbs'ta re'ka) 

Costa Rican (kbs'ta re'ka,n) 

Cote (kot) 

Cote de la Montagne (kot de la 
mon'tan'y’) 

Cristobal (kris-to'bal) 

Cuba (ku'ba) 

Cuban (ku'b&n) 

Cuernavaca (kwSr'na-va'ka) 
Cuilapan (kwe-la'pan) 

Cunard, Samuel (kh-nard', s^m'- 
u-61) 

Darien (dar'I-6n') 

Desierto de los Leones (da-se-6r'to 
da los la-o'nas) 

Diaz, Porfirio (de'as, p6r-fe'r6-5) 
Diego (dya'go) 

Diego, Juan (dya'go, hwan') 

Dionne (dyon) 

Dominican Republic (d5-mln 1-kS.n 
r6-pilb'llk) 
duenna (dtj-6n'a) 

Dufferin Terrace (dtif'er-in tSr'ls) 

Edmonton (6d'miin-t\in) 

Egypt (e'jlpt) ^ 

El Camino Real (61 ka-me'no ra-al ) 
El Carmen (61 kar'm6n) 

El Castillo (61 kas-tel'yo) 

El Real (61 ra-al') 
enchilada (6n'che-la'da) 

Erie (er'i) ^ 

Estados Unidos Mexicanos (6s-ta - 
dos 6o-ne'd6s m6k-se-ka'n6s) 
Eternity (6-tiir'ni-ti) 

European (u'ro-pe'an) 

Evangeline (6-vin'j6-len) 
evangelista (6-van-h6-lIs'ta) 

Fonseca (f6n-sa'ka) ^ 

Fort-de-France (for' de-frans') 
Franco-Latin (frang'k6-ia,t'ln) 
Fredericton (fr6d'er-lk-tiin) 

Fuego (fwa'go) 

Fundy (fiin'di) 





314 


PRONOUNCING VOCABULARY 


Gaillard (gal'erd) 

Galicia (ga-lish'l-a) 

Gdlvez (gal'vath) 

Gaspe (gas'pa') 

Gatun (ga-tdon') 

Georgian (jor'jl-dn) 

Goethals (go'thdlz) 

Goethe (gu'tg) 

Great Britain (grat brlt'^^n) 

Grenfell (gr6n'f61) 
gringo (grfng'go) 

Gringolandia (gring'go-ldri'dl-a) 
Guadalajara (gvva'tha-la-hii'ra) 
Guadalupe (gwa'tha-lod'pa) 
Guanajuato (gwa'na-hwa'to) 
guaraches (gvva-ra'chas) 

Guatemala (gwa'ta-ma'lii) 
Guatemalan (gwa'ta-ma'ldn) 
guayule (g\va-ydd'la) 

hacienda (a-sy6n'da) 

Haiti (ha'tl) 

Haitian (ha'ti-dn) 

Halifax (hdl'I-faks) 

Harding, Warren Gamaliel (har'- 
dlng, w6r'6n ga-ma'h-61) 

Havana (ha-vdn'a) 

Hawaiian (ha-wi'ydn) 

Hebert, Louis (a'bar', Idb'e') 
henequen (h6n'6-k6n) 

Hindu (hin'ddb) 

Hispaniola (his'pdn-yo'la) 

Homer (ho'mer) 

Honduras (hdn-ddo'rds) 

Hotel de Ville (o-t^l' de vel') 
huipil (wS-pel') 

Huron (hu'rdn) 

iguana (i-gwa'na) 

Indies (in'diz) 

Irapuato (e'ni-pwa'td) 

Irazu (e'ra-sdo') 

Ireland (ir'ldnd) 

Iturbide (e'tdor-be'tha) 

Ixtacihuatl (es'ta-se'wat’l) 

Izalco (e-sal'ko) 


Jalisco (ha-les'ko) 

Jamaica (ja-ma'ka) 

Japan (ja-pdn') 

Jaracuaro (hwa-ra-kwa'ro) 

Jasper (jds'per) 

Jauchitan (hwa-che'tan) 

Jerusalem (je-rdd'sa-l6m) 

Josephine (j6'z6-fen) 

Juarez, Benito (hwa'ras, b6-ne'to) 
jute (jdbt) 

Kakichecial (ka-ke-chas-yal') 
Kirkland (ktirk'ldnd) 

Klondike (kldn'dlk) 

Labrador (Idb'ra-dor') 

Lachine (la-shen') 

Lago (la'go) 

Langlois (laN'glwa') 

Laredo (la-ra'do) 

Laurentian (lo-rgn'shl-dn) 

Laval (la'val') 
leche (la'cha) 

Leon (la-6n') 

Lesseps, Ferdinand de (16'sftps', 
fur'df-ndnd de) 

Levis (la've') 

Lim6n (16-mon') 

Liverpool (llv'er-pdol) 

London (lun'dhn) 

Louisburg (Ido'Is-btIrg) 

Louise (Ido-ez') 

Mackenzie (ma-k6n'zl) 

Madam (mdd'am) 

Madero (ma-tha'ro) 

Magdalens (rndg'da-lCnz) 
maguey (mdg'wa) 

Malecon (ma-la'kon) 

Malinche (ma-len'cha) 

Malinzin (ma'len-tsen') 

Maltrata (mal-tra'ta) 

Managua (ma-na'gwa) 

Manitoba (mdn'l-to'ba) 

Manoir Richelieu (md-nwii re'she- 
lyiV) 



PRONOUNCING VOCABULARY 


315 


mantilla (man-tll'a) 

Mariscal (mar-res-kal') 

Mariscala (mah-res-kii'la) 
Martinique (mar'tl-nek') 

Matapedia (ma-ta-ped'e-a) 
matte (mat) 

Maximilian (mak'sl-mll'l-an) 

Maya (ma'ya) 

Mayan (ma'y^n) 

Mazatlan (ma'sa-tlan') 

Mecca (inSk'a) 

Mercado Central (m6r-ka'd6 san- 
tral') 

Merced (mer-s6d') 

Merida (ma'r^-tha) 
mesa (me'sa) 
mesquite (mSs-ket') 

Mexican (m6k'si-kan) 

Mexico (mgk'sl-ko) 

Michoacdn (mS-cho'a-kan') 

Minas Basin (mi'nas ba's’n) 
Minerva (mi-ntlr'va) 

Miraflores (me'ra-flo'ras) 

Miskito (mls-ke'to) 

Mitla (met'la) 

Mixtec (miks'tak) 

Moncton (mtingk't’n) 

Mongolian (m6ng-g6'li-an) 
Monsieur (me-syu') 

Montcalm (m6nt-kam') 

Monte de Piedad (mon'ta da pya- 
thiith') 

Monterrey (mon'ter-ra^) 
Montezuma (mSn'tS-zoo'ma) 
Montmorency (mSnt'mo-rSn'si) 
Montreal (mbnt'r^-ol') 

Moor (moor) 

Morelos (m6-ra'l6s) 

Mormon (mor'miin) 
morrales (m6-ra'las) 

Morro (m6r'ro) 

Motagua (m6-ta'gwa) 
mozo (mo'tho) 

Mudejar (moo-tba'har) 

Murillo (mu-ril'o) 


Nassau (nas'6) 

Nevado de Toluca (na-va'do da 
t6-ldb'ka) 

New Brunswick (nu brttnz'wlk) 
Newfoundland (nu'filnd-iand') 
Niagara (ni-^g^a-ra) 

Nicaragua (nik'a-ra'gwa) 
noches buenas (no'chas bwa'nas) 
norte (nor'ta) 

Northumberland Strait (nor-thiim'- 
ber-iand strat) 

Norway (nor'wa) 

Nova Scotia (no'va sk5'sha) 

Nuevo Laredo (nwa'vo la-ra'do) 

Oaxaco (wa-ha'ka) 

Obregbn (6'bra-gon') 

Olas Atlas (o'las at'las) 

Ontario (6n-tar'i-o) 

Orizaba (6'rS-sa'ba) 

Orleans (6r'lS-S,nz) 

Otomi (6-t6'ml) 

Ottawa (6t'a-wa) 

Pahuatlan (pa-hwa'tlan) 

Panama (pan'a-ma') 

Panduro (pan-ddo'ro) 
papaya (pa-pa'ya) 

Paraguay (p^r'a-gwa) 
patio (pa'tyo) 

Patzcuaro (pas'kwa-ro) 

Pedro Miguel (pa'dro mS-g6l') 

Pel4e (pe-la') 
peon (pe'6n) 
peso (pa'so) 

Picacho (pe-ka'cho) 

Pinguico (ping-gwe'ko) 
piragua (pl-ra'gwa) 

Plato (pla'to) 
plaza (pla'za) 

Plaza de la Constitucidn (pla za da 
la kon-ste-tdo-seon') 

Plaza Zenea (pla'za z6n-e'a) 
Pompeii (p6m-pa'ye) 

Ponce (pon'sa) 



316 


PRONOUNCING VOCABULARY 


ponchos (p6n'choz) 

Popocatepetl (p6-po'ka-ta'p6t’l) 
Portage (por-tazh') 

Portal de las Flores (por-taP da liis 
flo'ras) 

portales (p6r-ta'las) 

Port-au-Prince (por'-to'prans') 

Port la Joie (por la jwa') 

Port Royal (port roi'^l) 

Prado (pra'tho) 

Prince Rupert (prins roo'pert) 
Progreso (pr6-gra'so) 

Puebla (pwa'bla) 

Puerto Barrios (pwSr'to bar'r^-6s) 
Puerto Cort6s (pw6r'to kor-tas') 
Puerto Rican (pwSr'to re'kan) 
Puerto Rico (pw6r't6 re'ko) 
pulque (pobl'ka) 

Quai du Roi (ka dii nva') 

Queretaro (ka-ra'ta-ro) 

Quetzalcoatl (k6t-sal'ko-a't’l) 
Quezaltenango (ka-sal'ta-nang'go) 
Quintana Roo (k^n-ta'na ro'6) 
Quirigua (ke'rS-gwa') 

Quixote (kS-ho'ta) 

rebozo (ra-bo's6) 

Red Coulee (red kdb-la') • 

Regina (rS-ji'na) 

Richelieu (re'she-lyh') 

Rideau (re'do') 

Rimouski (r6-mbos'k$) 

Rio Cupatitzio (re'o kbb-pa-t6t- 
se'6) 

Rio Grande (re'o griin'da) 

Rivera, Diego (r^-va'rii, dya'go) 
Rosario (r6-sa're-o) 

Rosetta (r6-z6t'a) 

Rubens (rob'bSnz) 

Rue de Notre Dame (ru' de no'tr’ 
damO 

Rul, Conde de (rbbl, kon'da da) 

Sacro Monte (sa'kro mon'ta) 
Saguenay (sag'e-na') 


St. Clair (sant klar') 

Ste. Anne de Beaupre (sant an de 
bo'pra') 

Saltillo (sal-tel'yo) 

Salvador (sal'va-dor') 

San Cayetano (san ka-ya-tan'o) 

San Francisco (san fran-sis'ko) 

San Jos6 (san h6-sa') 

San Juan (san hwan') 

San Juancito (san hwan-se'to) 

San Juan del Norte (san hwan' dSl 
nor'ta) 

San Juan Teotihuacan (san hwan' 
ta'6-te'wa-kan') 

San Luis Potosi (san' Idb-es i)o'- 
t6-se') 

San Miguel (san me-g61') 

San Salvador (san sal'va-dor') 
Santa Lucrecia (siin'ta lu-kiTi'syii) 
Santa Rosa (san'ta ro'sa) 

Santo Domingo (siin'to db-ming'go) 
Saskatchewan (sas-kach'6-w6n) 
Saskatoon (sS,s'ka-tobn') 

Sault Sainte Marie (sdo sant ma-re') 
sefiorita (sa'nyo-re'ta) 

Septiembre (s6p-te-6m'bra) 
serape (s6-ra'pa) 

Seville (s6v'Il) 

Sierra Madre (si-6r'a mii'dra) 
siesta (si-Ss'ta) 
sisal (si's3,l) 
sombrero (s6m-bra'ro) 

Soo (sdo) 

Sorel (so-r61') 

Sous le Fort (sob le for') 

Sudbury (shd'bbr'I) 

Suez (sbb-Sz') 

Superior (su-per'i-er) 

Sydney (sid'ni) 

Tadoussac (ta'dbb'sak') ■ 

Tajo de Nochistongo (ta'zhb da 
no-ches-tbn'go) 
tamale (ta-ma'l(5) 

Tamaulipas (ta-ma'bb-le'pas) 





PRONOUNCING VOCABULARY 


317 


Tampico (tam-pe'ko) 

Tarascan (ta-ras'k3,n) 

Tartar (tar'ter) 

Taxco (tS,s'ko) 

Tegucigalpa (ta-goo's^-gal'pa) 
Tehuantepec (ta-wan'ta-p6k') 
Temollin (ta-mo'yin) 
Tenochtitlan (ta-n5ch'te-tlan') 
teocalli (te'o-kai'e) 
Teotihuacan (ta'6-te'wa-kan') 
Teotitlan (ta-6-t6'tlan) 
Tepeyac (ta-pa'yak) 

Texcoco (tas-ko'ko) 

Thetford (thgt'ferd) 

Thorold (tho'rold) 

Timmins (tim'Inz) 

Tlaloc (tla-lok') 

Tlascalan (tlas-ka'l3,n) 
Tlaxcala (tlas-ka'la) 

Toltec (t6Ttgk) 

Toluca (to-ldo'ka) 

Toronto (to-rSn'to) 
tortilla (t6r-te'ya) 

Trinidad (tre'nS-thafh') 
Trinity (trin'i-ti) 

Trujillo (troo-hel'yo) 

Tudor (tu'der) 

Tula (too'la) 


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Valbuena (val-bwa'na) 
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vaquero (va-ka'ro) 

Venice (v6n'is) 

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Victoria (vik-t5'ri-4) 

Viga (ve'ga) 

Virgin (vur'jin) 
volador (v5'la-fh6r') 

Wainwright (wan'rit) 

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Welland (w6l'S,nd) 
Winnipeg (wJn'i-p6g) 

Wolfe (wdblf) 

Xochimilco (ho'chS-mel'ko) 

Yucatdn (yob'ka-tan') 

Zapotec (sa'p6-t6k') 
Zararacua (za-ra-ra-kob'a) 
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